resources update issue 71

Continuing our series of tasters of our digital resource evaluations, we bring you a selection of geography, maths, science, cross curricular, ICT, english titles for primary and secondary: -

• Numbergym Software: www.numbergym.co.uk (version 1.5)
• 2Simple Software: 2Animate
• Memory Map: Memory-Map Selections OS 1:25,000 + Aerial Photography
• BBC Worldwide Children’s Learning:
  Science Clips DVD Plus Pack

• 2Simple Software: 2Create
• Footprints-Science: Life Processes and Living Things
• 2Simple Software: 2Simple 2Type
• Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry: Resources for Schools

Number Gym is a fantastic product that allows you to effortlessly integrate ICT into your numeracy lessons. Number Gym is a series of games that are based on objectives from the National Numeracy Strategy. Number Gym helps make facts memorable through visually striking graphics and clear content. The objectives range from adding 9, through to calculating missing angles of a triangle. There are endless benefits from using Number Gym, with pupil motivation being number one.

The beauty of Number Gym is that it can be used in a variety of ways and is simple to use. Probably, the software is most effectively used during the mental/oral starter of a numeracy lesson to keep skills sharp or during the whole
class input where it can be used to visually teach quite abstract concepts that benefit from a practical element.

2Animate is a superb tool kit to create animations for pupils from both key stages. It is easy to install with MSIs for those that need it. This software comes from the innovative
company 2Simple, who seem to know that the simplest of ideas are those that succeed with pupils.

Pupils are able to draw pictures on screen importing clipart, photographs and images to create a series of drawing frames. Animation is created, simply by clicking the play icon. The speed can be controlled just as easily.
The program can be tailored for different year groups and has a more advanced screen for older key stage two pupils. 2Simple have kept all teacher controls the same, so that if you have used other software by them, you will be
familiar with the layout. It’s great!

Footprints-Science: Life Processes and Living Things is a series of 25 interactive PowerPoint presentations. Designed to be used on an interactive whiteboard with GCSE pupils, it
could also be used with a multimedia projector and laptop. Each presentation is made up of a series of slides that can be used as a whole presentation or by just selecting the slide you want to use for starters, plenaries or the reinforcement of a topic or a particular concept in the lesson. There are a variety of slides which contain facts, animations, drag and drop exercises, quizzes and word searches.

The animations are good for getting across difficult concepts so that the students can visualise processes that we could otherwise only describe.

2Type

Memory-Map Selections™ is a comprehensive mapping and navigation program in which the user gets to choose the exact area that they wish to investigate. It facilitates the understanding of maps for a particular local landscape or route with some breath-taking insights as well as having the potential to save vast amounts of time. Settlement studies, tourism, rivers, farming and rocks and relief are just some of the GCSE topics where the program could pay real dividends. There is the facility to interface with GPS and Pocket PC devices where maps and aerial photographs may be viewed as 2 dimensional objects or in real time as 3D views with ‘fly through’ options.

In addition to the teaching perspective, the program offers students the ability to prepare materials for coursework, plot routes and view virtual fieldtrips.

2Type is suitable for children of Primary School age and beyond! The program contains several activities designed to increase typing speed, keyboard familiarity and accuracy as well as improve spelling, develop the children’s correct use of finger positions using colour-coding, which also helps pupils differentiate between upper and lower case letters. The activities range from simple one key activities to typing a given paragraph and dictated sentences.

All activities have options within them to enable alteration to accommodate children with special needs. An example of this is that the speed of the activity can be changed or the time limit changed. The colourful activities engaged the children who were practising reading, spelling, word-recognition at the same time as learning to type! Another great resource, from 2Simple Software.

This DVD pack contains 12 ten-minute programmes linked to QCA Science Schemes of Work: Life Cycles; Keeping Healthy; Interdependence and Adaptation; Micro-organisms; Gases Around Us; Changing State; Reversible and Irreversible Changes; Changing Circuits; Forces in Action; Changing Sounds; How we see things; Earth, Sun and Moon. Each of these units is in turn subdivided into several related aspects.

The DVD has been designed to be as flexible as possible through the use of these clips and is best used as awareness raising stimuli or source material for development. The Teacher’s Activity Book and support materials provide guidance for using the DVD, web links and cross-curricular links.

This is a free website that has been developed and supported by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Targeted at children of all ages from 5 – 16+ and all ability levels, it aims to encourage student interest in science.

It is a multi-curriculum resource and provides an invaluable link between the topics studied in school and their applications in industry and research.

It would be an excellent tool to use at the start of a lesson to introduce topics, or to use to enhance the understanding of concepts during lessons (especially using the animations) and there are plenty of activities that can be used in a plenary session or as a revision aid for groups and individuals.

Existing resources

• Decide what you want to achieve with ICT and then assess whether your school has the resources available.
• If you work in partnership with other schools, you may want to consider their resources, too.
• Discuss your ideas for ICT with teaching staff and get their views of products they’ve used.