Naace

June 27, 2007 at 7:21 am | In Primary curriculum, Reviews | Leave a Comment

Naace have recently re-launched their website - it’s much more accessible, better organised and with a better search facility. They also have a separate blogging site, though when I looked there wasn’t much there yet – no doubt it will build over time. In case you don’t know Naace, they describe themselves as:

… the professional association for those who are concerned with advancing education through the appropriate use of information and communications technology. The association was established in 1984 and has become the key influential professional association for those working in ICT in Education.

And what does ‘Naace’ stand for?

Originally the letters stood for ‘National Association of Advisors for Computers in Education’. NAACE merged with MAPE and CEG in January 2004 and more recently in 2005 with ACITT so we now have a broader membership with teachers, lecturers, consultants, inspectors and other ICT leaders in our membership in addition to Advisors.

Moovl gets a mention in the latest Naace newsletter – though you need to be a member to receive this.

Child Education and Junior Education

June 21, 2007 at 7:48 am | In Reviews | Leave a Comment

The July editions of Child Education and Junior Education come with an ICT supplement. Moovl is featured in the section on ‘Software across the curriculum’. One quote:

This innovative product enables children of any age to create drawings that they can animate using the laws of physics to bring pictures and words to life. The product features content for science, literacy and problem solving and embeds ICT in a way which encourages children to explore ‘what if’ questions for themselves.

Learning and Teaching Scotland

June 5, 2007 at 9:53 am | In Primary curriculum, Reviews | Leave a Comment

Learning and Teaching Scotland hosts an online ICT in Education website, which ”provides educationalists with an informative knowledge base full of useful advice and resources relating to the use of technology across the curriculum. The site provides examples of teachers experiences of using a variety of ICT for teaching and learning.”

The service highlights Moovl and gives guidance on how Moovl supports A Curriculum for Excellence:

  • engaging and motivating all learners
  • supporting the development of problem-solving and thinking skills in an open-ended environment
  • helping learners to make meaningful links between subjects and enabling teachers to use ICT across the curriculum
  • encouraging children to hypothesise and discuss what might happen, aiding the development of talking and listening skills and a collaborative approach to learning
  • suiting a range of learning styles: thereby supporting personalised learning
  • giving children a unique means of communicating and developing their ideas.

Case study: Hope School, Liverpool

June 4, 2007 at 8:03 am | In Moovl development, Primary curriculum, Reviews | Leave a Comment

Hope School is a school for boys with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, in Liverpool. All of the learners have a statement of special educational needs or are undergoing assessment. Most have a history of disrupted schooling and poor attendance at other schools. This school epitomises real personalised learning in every sense of the term – they need to tailor for a wide range of abilities in some very challenging circumstances.

The ICT Manager at Hope School, John Lewis, started using the demo version of Moovl on the Futurelab website. The school subscribed to the schools version of Moovl when it was first published in May 2006.

The school has found that the key benefits of using Moovl are that:

  • It is very engaging; hugely important given that the learners suffer from severe behavioural difficulties. One learner had not sat through a complete lesson since he started (3 years ago), until he used Moovl.
  • It is the only resource that learners keep coming back to and want to use again and again. Learners find it instantly rewarding as animations can be created quickly and easily.
  • It lends itself to science and helps develop some difficult scientific concepts in a fun way.
  • It helps develop thinking and investigative questioning, learners have begun asking questions such as ‘What happens if I do this or this?’ and ‘How can I do that?’
  • It encourages learners to take control of their learning and gives them the confidence to articulate themselves. The teacher is only a facilitator.
  • It provides learners with a challenge (which boys thrive on) and this gives their learning momentum and purpose.
  • Learners help each other – Moovl support true collaboration.
  • It is easy to use – learners use the tools confidently, grasp functionality very quickly and often tell teachers how to use it.

teachers.tv

May 26, 2007 at 7:19 am | In Primary curriculum, Reviews | Leave a Comment

teachers tv logo
There is a review of Moovl on teachers.tv.
Hermione Cockburn introduces three resources that are ideal for Primary Art, and discusses them with an LA adviser, a Primary Headteacher and an educational consultant.
You can watch the video online or download it by clicking here.

Schoolzone evaluation

May 21, 2007 at 8:22 am | In Reviews | Leave a Comment

The folks at Schoolzone have an evaluation of Moovl, based on the experiences of a Year 6 teacher. The teacher found Moovl “a useful resource that can be used to create imaginative drawings, explore physical properties and enhance the teaching of subjects across the curriculum using ICT”.
The full evaluation is here.

Primary Choice

May 18, 2007 at 7:04 am | In Reviews | Leave a Comment

The latest issue of Primary Choice includes a review of Moovl, praising its ‘child-friendly’ interface and ‘cross-curricular usefulness’.
You can read the review here:Moovl Review Primary Choice.

What do teachers think of Moovl?

May 17, 2007 at 9:51 am | In Reviews | Leave a Comment

Moovl has been lucky enough to generate some very positive responses from teachers who have used it.
Tim Rylands, teacher and winner of the 2005 BECTA ICT in Practice Awards wrote a review for Junior Education, in which he said “It’s great to see a program that is truly engaging and instantly motivates learners.” You can read the full review in PDF: Tim Rylands Review.

Andrew Ross of Primary Teacher UK had “fun creating a moving ‘monster’ that can float around.”

If you’re a Moovl user, then let us know what you think by commenting on this post.
If you haven’t yet tried it, there’s a free demo version you can launch from the homepage.

Moovl review in the TES

May 16, 2007 at 2:55 pm | In Reviews | Leave a Comment

The TES recently ran a review of Moovl, particularly focusing on its creative and ‘fun’ approach.
Gerald Haigh was looking for software that provided “easy-to-use tools and guidance and a few ready-made ideas.” And software that should “stand back so children and their teachers can do things the authors did not think of.”
Read what he has to say about how Moovl fits the bill.

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