A running query on 2.5

[leviosa]

Hi, Margaret was just wondering if you could clear something up for me.????

Having finally persuaded our ICT man to drag people kicking and screaming out of the dark ages and have Activ 2 installed on their computers at school, I am now stressing about the imapct of Activ 2.5 :eek:

I know you can run old stuff on the newer versions but when I've created resources on Activ 2 my colleague who at that time had Activ 1 couldn't use them. :mad:

However, I have used flp created in Developer that people have uploaded. [clap]

So how's it going to work with Activ 2.5 then?

They don't move that quickly at our place and I'm now addicted so i can feel tears and tantrums coming on. :p

[Margaret Allen]

Hiya,

You are right when you say that AP2 flps couldn't be opened in AP1. However, anything created in 2.5 will be openeable (is there such a word :D ) in AP2.

BUT I am not talking about 2.5 anymore 'cos I keep upsetting Bmsci :eek: ;) :D +wave+

Hey I know this wait is frustrating.... rest assured that we have staff who are screaming much more than you for it! :rolleyes:

[leviosa]

Brilliant news Maragret thanks for that. [clap]

It means the technophobes can trundle along at their snail pace and I can have fun without stressing about room changes etc and being unable ot use my fab resources :D

[daverosthorn]

Brilliant news Maragret thanks for that. [clap]

It means the technophobes can trundle along at their snail pace and I can have fun without stressing about room changes etc and being unable ot use my fab resources :D

We have those too :rolleyes:

[leviosa]

Glad it's not just me then Dave ;)

[daverosthorn]

Glad it's not just me then Dave ;)

/sigh

yes, someone is using ACTIVstudio as one of those roller blackboards.

[Mark Ellis]

I'm sure we all know people who are using the boards as Roller-blackboards, or something like it. Does anyone have any success stories about 'converting' the reluctant? I'd be interested to know what it is that you find has worked in bringing people to a more useful grasp of the potential of Activ. Is there something you show them? Any ideas gratefully received.

[leviosa]

I use peer pressure :o


Becuase I am good on my IWB now the kids keep commenting - puts the pressure on the technophobes to learn somethng other than just writing on it.

Actually serioulsy, I would say 75% of staff are competent at basic functions and more. Several are very good at making use of the camera etc. There's only a couple who are uselss - they're the same ones who panic at having to do reports on the computer.

[daverosthorn]

Because I develop / enhance all of our resources, I use the services I provide my colleagues as bait to lure the reluctant towards the light.

[davidlloyd]

I take it very gently with technophobes. First I think text boxes can be a good way especially dragging text onto a flipchart page from another file then dhowing what can be done with it. Just using the board for hand writing like a dry whiteboard but saving the file can hook some. Then there's the images and camera tool. The Freehand camera tool gets everybody. If all that fails then use peer pressure. At the end of all this if any user is refusing to use their IWB effectively then there's always appraisal, targets and competency!

[Charlotte]

If all that fails then use peer pressure. At the end of all this if any user is refusing to use their IWB effectively then there's always appraisal, targets and competency!
I think that is a little harsh!! If teachers see that the IWB is genuinely a force for good they will come on board with it. Even my most technophobic staff have fully engaged with their IWB. It took some a little longer than others but the best way to get someone into using it 'properly' is to show them how it can
(1) Save them time in the long term.
(2) Enhance the learning and teaching experience for themselves and their pupils
(3) Excite and motivate pupils (and themselves)
(4)Aid with assessment and recording procedures (ACTIVote)
If you offer regular short sessions where people can ask the silly questions and share their successes then you will develop confident users.
Teachers are the most flexible and creative people - they will embrace new technologies and new ideas but only if they are relevant and useful. Teachers have to deal with so many marvelous new initiatives (which disappear in a matter of months) it's no wonder some area touch sceptical!

[leviosa]

Charlotte, I think he was talking tongue in cheek!

[Mark Ellis]

I expect many of us are involved with the roll-out of proficiency to other colleagues. Charlotte, I think you are suggesting a training model with short, regular sessions? Are you talking about a group approach? I haven't thought about a regular novice group meeting so I haven't considered the best size of group or how to make it sound attractive when you put it on a noticeboard.

Most of the time, I find that one-to-one coaching is the way to make progress: but it is hugely time-consuming. And I tend to do it in response to questions - which can come at really inconvenient times. I also tend to go round and 'visit' people in their classrooms - again, time consuming.

I have done 'sessions' for groups but they only really worked when everybody had the software loaded onto laptops and could follow along.

The biggest problem is getting the time earmarked.

Does anyone have a good model for training / dissemination that actually works in a school? I'd be interested.

[Mike Dawson]

I think you across the water should consider Margaret for P.M. [clap]

Sorry, You already had your Margaret. I meant Charlotte

[Mark Ellis]

She might have to change her name - if you get my drift. :D

[airskeeter]

I show all of the functions and then assure all teachers that I am talking with that they SHOULD start at their comfort level.

If they are using it as a whiteboard, then so be it.

Then I encourage them to move into Powerpoints that they already have and annotate over them, that's why 2.5 will be great.

I then let them know that they can move from presenting to making their lessons more interactive.

:) I then let them know that someday they might be like Margaret and Peter who have permanently implanted ACTIVpen 4's in their index finger. They are machines!!! :)

The important issue is allowing teachers to teach in their comfort zone, in their happy place. All too often us techno geeks get impatient with the unwashed masses. That only turns technologically challenged folks away. Be patient, they will come around with some coaching and care....

[airskeeter]

Mark, I will be setting up regional user groups to have lunch and learn sessions. Inviting all of my area users to a local ized meeting area and letting them share.

[Mark Ellis]

Bill, thanks. What would actually happen at the sessions? One of the problems with whiteboard training is that there only tends to be one board in a room! That's why I did try to load the software on laptops. At your lunches, is there going to be a chance for everyone to practise or do you intend to demonstrate? This is what I am getting at - can you 'train' effectively a group of ten people, or is it more effective to coach one-to-one? And how do people get the time made available for training from their institutions?

[leviosa]

While we're at it can someone tell me what exciting features 2.5 has for me to look forward to when it comes out. :confused:

Is it a downlaod upgrade or do I need to start nagging my ICT man:eek: now so that he will be ready to scream a t me and give in when the tim is ripe? :o

[Charlotte]

+wave+ Hi Mark - I know how difficult it can be to get everyone on board. What has worked for me is regular small group sessions. Yes it is time consuming and relies on a lot of goodwill as everyone is busy. Having said that in my experience teachers do want to learn and want to get to grips with new technology. The other really good way to get people excited about how IWBs can help them is to produce a resource which they can go away and use in their classes. I'm not an expert in all subjects so I rely on collecting ideas from elsewhere and using those. Of a staff of 45 (all with IWBs) I now only have 2 staff who consider themselves to be novices. For these 2 I have a regular session of about half an hour where I go over the basics (again and again) then get them to suggest what they would like to use the board for - we then produce a resource together.
I have had the software loaded onto PCs in an ICT room so teachers in the larger groups can try out the ideas I am demonstrating. Most people learn best by doing.
I also make sure I have simple, clear handouts recapping what I have covered + a CD with a few cool flips on it for them to 'play' with in their own time. And try to make sure they have the software loaded onto their home computers.
I love the challenge of getting people as excited about AS2 as I am!!

[Mark Ellis]

Hi Charlotte.

Producing a resource together is probably a very effective coaching 'tool'. There are five or six of us who could share that task and I will put it to them. Time is made available to us on an irregular basis from the INSET provision and I imagine a resource-creation session would make good use of our next chunk of training. Perhaps encourage some serious sharing too.

[airskeeter]

Mark,

My plans are to have at least two IWB's in the room. I have one and my area sales manager has one as well.

I recently trained 25 teachers where I had two boards in the room and I demonstrated on one and let them use and interact with the other.

That said, I really think that If we are espousing interactive learning, we should let our training be the same.

Its hard to do but I'm getting there.

Ulitmately, I want the groups to teach themselves with a nudge and a shove from me in places.

[Margaret Allen]

Hi People

Don't forget the online training tutorials.... they are a brilliant "nudge" facility!! [clap]

http://www.prometheanworld.com/uk/html/training/tutorials.shtml

[Mark Ellis]

Hi Margaret,

Yes, the tutorials are really helpful and you can just let people get on with them at their own pace - which helps.

However, to anyone who hasn't yet pointed a colleague at the tutorials can I make one suggestion: make sure they realise that they have to open THEIR OWN flipchart to work through the tutorials in parallel with the stuff that comes up on the screen. Because the tutorials have some click-points on them, some people have used them, clicking where the pointer indicates, and they then wonder how they 'save' their work.

I know that if you are IT literate that is an unlikely error - but it didn't just happen once or twice in my school! So now I make a point of saying 'Open a flipchart FIRST, then hide it, THEN go to the tutorials.':D