ICT Free Stuff

An ICT teacher shares their animation resources.

The teaching of ICT has recently been a hot topic in the news. With a greater focus now on what is taught in ICT lessons coming from the Department for Education, it is worth exploring different ICT-related areas to help keep students engaged, and to help further develop relevant knowledge and skills.

One area which is often overlooked due to its perceived difficulty level is creating animations. In a number of ICT reports by NAACE, comments such as “…working with technology should be enjoyable…” and “…ICT that could engage and astonish pupils and teachers…It should develop their interest…” are mentioned frequently. To help meet these high standards, a great area to look at is animation. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Serif DrawPlus
This is a valuable piece of software which can be easily used with KS3 and KS4 students to create different animations. A starter version of the software can even be downloaded for free. Students can create their own stop motion animations, a type of animation that has been used in the movie industry for films such as Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit features. The software also allows students to create Key frame animations. Key frame animations allow the students to easily animate objects with less user input. The facilities available in the software allow students to stay engaged with learning and to be able to create interesting animations. The software also offers a picture gallery offering many pre-drawn graphics which can be animated by students. www.serif.com

FluxTime Animation
FluxTime Animation website and software allows students to create animations with some pre-set shapes and templates. The free software is more suited to at KS3 students and it does offer some good help guides to allow students to create interesting animations easily. It includes a number of example animations that have been uploaded to help give students some ideas on animation layout and structure. Students may also be engaged by the frequent competitions on the site, where students can upload their completed animations to be judged.
www.fluxtime.com

DoInk
DoInk is a useful web-based tool for creating basic animations. This free animation website is suitable for both KS3 and KS4 students. Offering students a number of different tools and facilities to create interesting and colourful animations, the site also provides a range of video tutorials to help guide students on their way to creating exciting animations. There are also example animations to help give students extra ideas. www.doink.com

I Can Animate 2
I Can Animate 2 is a good tool to help encourage students to make animations and it offers a number of different features and facilities. The software has a selection of pre-set themes and it includes a range of varied effects that students can apply to their animations. The software also allows sound and video to be easily added to animation projects. A great feature of this animation software is the ability to create avatar animations in conjunction with the use of a webcam.
www.kudlian.net

These web links were working correctly at the time of publication. Boardworks takes no responsibility for the content of external sites.

With a presentation on ‘Introduction to Multimedia’ and two further presentations devoted to animation, Boardworks KS3+KS4 ICT resources provide a range of resources to support your animation teaching. To find out more, order our Summer 2012 sample disc.

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Below is an archive of our most popular free ICT resources. To download this content all you need to do is click on the links below and you will be prompted to register some additional details with us.

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According to a recent study, nearly half of all teenagers (47%) now own a smartphone, but of those 47% only 6% were concerned about their privacy on the internet. 

Although the internet allows teenagers to socialise, shop and share information like never before, there are a number of online dangers of which your KS4 students should be aware.

To help your students stay safe online we’ve produced a poster about online safety, packed with practical advice for staying safe online. 

Download the poster by clicking the button below!

Get the rest of the teachers in your school signed up to receive high-quality free teaching resources by sending them this link: www.boardworks.co.uk/onboard We cover the whole curriculum, across KS3–KS5!

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'By showing flow charts in operation, this fun lesson helps students visualize such flow chart concepts and evaluate designs and their output. [...] This lesson focuses entirely on robust human modelling with little implementation overhead, thereby properly embedding flowchart design before moving on to implementation.'

Using basic flow charts and loops, Sam’s lesson helps your students start thinking about the logic of programming and the steps involved in designing a system. In this dynamic lesson, one student acts as a 'Runner' and example flow charts can be acted out, spoken aloud and designed in groups to solve problems.

As with this lesson plan, Boardworks ICT resources feature interactive activities such as animations and games to help present complex computing ideas in a fun and memorable manner. Order your free sample disc to find out more.

And to keep up-to-date with news of free resources, lesson plans and other subject news, you can now follow us on Twitter @BoardworksLtd.

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Andy Clarke from Teaching Goodies shares his teaching tips for preparing your students for the upcoming ICT curriculum changes.

In his recent speech at BETT, education secretary Michael Gove said that the way ICT is taught in schools is a “mess” and needs to be reformed.

Professor Steve Furber, computer scientist at The University of Manchester and designer of the pioneering Acorn computer and ARM processor has been stressing the importance of digital literacy for years. Furber recognises that “the UK has a proud history of leading the way in the field of computer science”, but is worried that “we are now watching the enthusiasm of the next generation waste away through poorly conceived courses and syllabuses”. See www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16515275 for more on Furber’s comments.

The solution? According to Michael Gove we should be teaching a diet of programming, networking, app development and games design to students. Whether we agree with this or not, the chances are that computer science will begin to feature more prominently in the ICT curriculum over the coming months and years.

As a conscientious teacher of ICT, concerned about these developments and wanting to deliver the best for your students (while brushing up on your own computer science at the same time), it might be worth trying out these great resources…

Codecademy
This is a very clever and intuitive online programming tutorial which is perfect for a first time computer programmer of any age. Stay engaged by earning badges and awards as you progress, and add an element of competition by keeping tabs on the progress of friends. KS3 and KS4 classes will love it! www.codecademy.com

Try Ruby
Ruby is a web programming language from Japan used to power dynamic websites and blogs. Visit www.tryruby.org to try out a simple, interactive beginners tutorial; perfect for KS4 students.

Scratch
Scratch is billed as “a programming language for everyone”. This very visual, tactile programming interface is perfect for introducing computer control to students of all ages. This can range from primary school right through to KS4 and KS5, who can try out more complicated games design projects. Scratch does need to be installed, but it is a free download!
http://scratch.mit.edu

App Design
If you fancy dipping your toe in the ‘app design’ water, this booklet from Teaching Goodies is perfect. Use it to introduce the idea of audience, purpose and function to students without getting your hands dirty with programming code. Download it from www.teaching-goodies.com/ict/key-stage-3/design-an-app for just 99p using the discount code BWFEB99.

These web links were working correctly at the time of publication. Boardworks takes no responsibility for the content of external sites.

With presentations on ‘HTML’, ‘Creating a Web Site’ and ‘Games Technology’, Boardworks KS3+KS4 ICT already covers a number of the areas recently highlighted as important by education secretary Michael Gove.

We’ll be looking to develop our ICT products further in the coming months, helping you to teach in line with emerging new curricula and specifications. To find out more about these resources, order your free sample disc today.

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CDs, DVDs, blue-ray, hard disks, optical, solid state.

With so many different keywords to learn when studying data storage, it can be difficult for students to understand the differences between each term.

To help cement your students’ knowledge of all these different terms, Boardworks KS4 ICT is packed full of exciting end-of-topic games that help summarise important content and remind students of key terms and their meanings.

To try out our storing data game, click on the 'Start' button below.

Designed for use as a whole-class summary activity, the aim of the game is to get the airplane to the finish line by answering the questions correctly. Whilst your students have fun competing against each other, you can assess their understanding of data storage.

To see more of the range of summary material contained in Boardworks KS3+KS4 ICT, including end-of-topic tasks, multiple-choice exercises and exam-style questions, order your free sample disc today.