Restarting Apache

• sudo apachectl restart

Location of PHP.ini file

• sudo mate /private/etc/php.ini

• Improve electronic marking and feedback (EMF) – without doubt it should be possible to improve EMF with a tablet as teachers should be able mark and provide feedback (verbal and written) whilst moving around the class observing how the students are working.  How this is then fed back to the students is more challenging.  Do you post it onto a VLE which the students then need to access or do you just send a private tweet or add it to their Edmodo wall?
• Managing behaviour and using strikes consistently – if a tablet device encourages teachers to make consistent use of behaviour management tools (BMT) such as SIMs Emerge or Class Dojo then there is a clear benefit from having one available.
• Communication during lesson time (in case of a child being sent a safe room for example) – any device which streamlines the process for communication during a lesson is going to be a benefit.  My school emails are already delivered directly to my phone via a gmail account.  The weakness in any system like this is the speed at which the other end picks up the call.  (A VOIP system such as Skype might be advantagous in classrooms where there are no landline phones?)
• Develop monitoring across all Key Stages – if tablets are beneficial in the previous three bullets then it would be logical to suggest that they will aid and develop the accuracy and depth of student monitoring.
• Improve differentiation in KS3 ICT – I cannot see how a teacher device will aid differentiation at KS3.   However, having used the iPads in the classroom I would say that tablets have both the potential to encourage and the potential to distract students.   I suspect that lessons designed around the iPads where every student has one are very effective.  However, where they are used as a means to do one small part of something larger and only a few have access they seem to cause distractions from the more mundane.   I would encourage a school to buy class sets so that whole lessons can be planned around them.   They have clear potential for supporting students such as: student podcasting of evidence rather than writing; translation of instructions; and recording of presentations so that they can be replayed.
• Improve grades across KS5 classes – other than supporting android (and/or iPhone/iPad) app development I cannot see how a teacher device will improve grades specifically at key stage 5.  Without doubt there are many clever apps which have the potential to provide interesting and exciting means to develop programming skills.
• Promote SMSC - - see comments relating to monitoring and improving grades at KS5.
• Run and manage extra curricular activities – see comments relating to monitoring and improving grades at KS5.
• Share good practice across the school – good practice can only be promoted if it is communicated clearly to other staff.  

I will admit to being apprehensive about the benefits of having a teacher tablet device in the classroom every day.  Previously I have attempted to use an iPad1 in the classroom and found it slow and clunky. At the beginning of the year I started bringing my iPad3 into school with the intention of using it as my planner, markbook and general note book.  A few weeks in I found myself leaving it at home and upgrading my old macbook to the latest model and resorting to a good 13″ laptop instead.  I had found the iPad3 clunky and heavy in addition to being  limiting when compared to a medium sized laptop.

With the launch of the iPad mini and Nexus 7 devices my interest has returned.  I have continued to use my iPhone for some small tasks within the classroom and wonder whether a low cost medium sized tablet device that truly fits within my palm could be beneficial.  It would be small enough to carry around but big enough to use for a variety of tasks.

Comparison Table

These specs are already out of date with talk of processor and screen upgrades for the Nexus.

Apps Table

References

• Digital Trends – Best Apps for teachers and educators by Simon Hill, March 30 2013
• Teach Thought – 29 Apps for Teachers by Terry Heick, April 16th 2013
• NspireD2 – 20 Types of Tablet Tools for teaching by Chris Clark, June 10 2011
• Phones Review – IPad Mini versus Galaxy Tab 3, April 30th 2013
• IBTimes – 2nd Gen Nexus 7 Specs, May 12 2013

Things to check out

Graphics looking horrible?  Are you using the video out and are the graphics truly bad?   I switched to a HDMI to VGA self powered convertor like this one.   It works a treat and now I have beautiful graphics.   You will need to adjust the config.txt file on your RPi SD Card before it will work as explained here.

Making simple games using PyGame.   There are some top tutorials at Lorenzo’s WordPress Blog.

##  Another work in progress ##

1) Differentiation By Outcome

The old classic and now a major no-no in the eyes of Ofsted as judging students by the quality of their work is no longer appropriate.  However, you can give the lazy method a new twist by using:

2) Differentiation By Task

Where students are given different task to complete.  At a literacy level this might be asking Level 4 (L4) students to state 4 types of something while L5 are asked to describe with L6 being asked to compare and so on.   However, sometimes all students need to achieve the same goal in order to be able to progress so we can use:

3) Differentiation By Resource

Where students undertake the same task but with different supporting resources or worksheets.   Challenge L6 students to independently achieve a task while providing L4 students with a walk-though guide.  L5 may be allowed to choose to use the guide or not.  It’s not wrong to give students the choice – a L6 Maths student will have different strengths to a L6 Art student and in a topic like ICT its only appropriate that sometimes they choose.   So another alternative is:

4) Differentiation By Communication

Lucky enough to have a supply of iPads in school then these are perfect for this method.  Students who have greater difficulty writing than others may prefer to record themselves talking.   iPads are perfect for recording a student talking about their work.

5) Differentiation By Learning Style

Try to include activities that cover all the learning styles (VAK) in each lesson.  This could mean representing instructions in all three ways: verbal explanation, bulleted instruction list; and flowchart for those Kinaesthetic learners to follow.

6) Differentiation By Buddying

Use group work to bring students together in a way that means they can support each other: weaker readers can be supported by better readers;  creative thinkers can support the less imaginative students; and experts who finish early can reinforce their understanding by helping students have more difficulty.

7) Anchor Tasks

Have a pre-prepared series of anchor tasks that students can attempt if and when they have spare time.  They should compliment the work and being appropriate to the students ability.

8) Share the writing

Students can work in groups of 3 or 4 to explain what they have done.    The more able write the conclusion while the less able provide the introduction.

9) Differentiation by Word Count

Adjust the requirements based on the ability.    Students must write 2 x their target level squared about a topic – L5 = 50, L6 = 72 and so on…

And there is plenty more out there.  I would add that looking at some they appear more like a list of possible class room activities that methods for differentiation but all are worthy.   Always good to revisit a topic ever now and then to remind yourself and pick up any new ideas that might be floating around.

Bibliography

• http://www.aggs.trafford.sch.uk/downloads/Teaching-School/Differentiation/Differentiation-TES-30%20ideas.pdf
• http://teachictblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/ideas-for-differentiation/

Sometimes it looked a little bit alien…

Just what a cold kitesurfer needs after a couple of hours on the water.

Experimenting with images on the iPad downloaded from the Synology box.

The SynBox will initially be loaded with 4x Western Digital 1TB drives that we have left over from our down graded Ubuntu server.  I have completed a SmartCtl Extended Test Reports on these drives and hope despite the extended hours they will work ok for the time being.

– post in progress —

Set Up

Loading the Synbox with the drives was effortless so no issues there.  Instinct was to pull the tabs in order to release the drive bays but actually you must push.

I needed to download the latest version of the DSM software from Synology and at the same time grabbed copies of their user guide.  Unlike their instructions I decided to move the DS Assistant application into my applications folder for later use.

We are a Mac/Unix house so the Synbox will be operated from OSx.  Initially I had issues with connection failed when trying to configure the network.   I soon realised that I just needed to turn off my firewall.  Apparently, the synbox uses ports  9997, 9998, 9999 for setup – I will need to exclude these from the firewall if I am to use these regularly – update to follow.

Once over that hurdle the setup was quick and after about five minutes I was ready to login to the the Synbox for the first time.  When I logged the DSM notification system told me that the SHR Volume build was underway and that it would be ready shortly.   I went out for a bit!  Overall I think it took about three hours plus to build and check the volume so a lot of patience is required here.  The DSM web interface is very impressive and has so far worked without fault.

Creating Basic Users and Shared Folders.

The first task was to ensure that we could access it across the local network.  I created new users for the wife and I enabled home directories via the control panel > users > user home button.  I also created some standard folder shares so we can share some joint files such as holiday and money spreadsheets.

This seemed to work seamlessly until I switched on the SynBox firewall.  Despite opening up all the ports that seemed necessary it appears I also need to allow Bonjour through.   This is something I intend to go back and look at when the box is a little more organised.

Web Server Setup

Getting the web working was actually easier than I expected.  I started the service and immediately created a virtual host.  For the base website this was not required and you should place the files for the core website in the web root folder.

Virtual Host configuration for subdomains on dynamic IP Address.

I wanted to be able to take full advantage of the web serving capabilities of the Synbox and set up a moodle subdomain fed by my wildcard dyndns setup.   This meant getting to the  virtual host configuration so a ServerAlias could be added. To do this:

1. I had to enable SSH Terminal and log in as root.
2. cd to /usr/syno/etc/
3. use vi to open httpd-vhost.conf-user where I could add the server alias
4. restart apache using /usr/syno/etc/rc.d/S97apache-sys.sh restart.

Moodle Data

Getting the permissions sorted for the Moodle Data folder was not straight forward.  Eventually, thanks to another forum I was able to determine that I could tweak the permissions and execute the following commands

chown -R nobody:users /volume1/moodledata
chmod -R 0755 /volume1/moodle

Finally, I had to go to the WebUI > Control Panel > Web Service > PHP setting > enable PHP open_basedir and add /volume1/moodle to the path.

 File and Folder Permissions.

Having looked around the root of the web folder I noticed that the permissions set on the folders and files were pretty loose.  So I used the following lines to reset the file and folder permissions (again via the terminal)

find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

note there should be a slash and semi colon at the end of each line.

Remote BackUps

The SynBox comes with wget and crontab available so using sh scripts I have been able to set up remote backups for the VPS that we have.  The scripts collect database dump files nightly and complete backups monthly.

Remote Access

I have installed all available apps from the Apple app store onto my iPad3 and have tried DS Finder and DS File which both seem to work OK.  The other 5 apps (DS Cloud, DS Cam, DS Photo+, DS Video and DS Audio) all appear to require additional packages to be installed onto the SynBox itself so until I have the basics working and done some more reading I’m going to leave those alone.

DS Finder

DS Finder only provides the most basic access.  It allows you to review the status of your SynBox such as general performance, network and storage.  Additionally, you can restart and shutdown the SynBox or switch to DSM Mobile which offers a greater number of management tools but nothing like the full DSM experience.

DS File

DS File uses WebDav to access files on your SynBox with options to email, print or view locally on your iPad.  Once the file is on your iPad you can export the file to another application such as Pages.  Given Pages has the ability to connect directly with WebDav (to be tested) it seems pointless to go via DS File.    It is also not possible to browse from within DS File to the photos stored on the iPad – this appears to be a bit shortsighted.    I know that DS Photo is intended for this but to my best understanding at the moment this links your photos to a photo blog for sharing – I don’t want to share but am looking to back up from a remote location.

Well don’t worry because FTPOnTheGo does browse the iPad photo library and if you enable FTP or if you are wise sFTP [only] then you can upload photos via a secure FTP connection.

First Impressions

Well, its very good.  File transfers seem pretty quick and I have yet to find something I am unable to implement. Probably the only area that raises an eyebrow is web serving. I’m not sure that Moodle is a particularly fast at the best of times and while it builds a cache of pages it is noticeably slow.   It’s also slow when asked to multitask such as transfer 300GB of data from one server to another while serving pages.  That said, for my longer term purposes once most of the data is in place and the automated tasks are configured I do not think this will be a huge problem.

Well OCR currently offer a GCSE Computing course and it looks as if this will be included according to the OCR news post OCR OCR GCSE Computing to count in EBACC.  I have taught the OCR A-Level Computing for seven years now and have never been let down by the qualification.  I also see that OCR have introduced an entry level one qualification that, although yet to be accredited, might work well as a year 9 core course.  The OCR has three units two of a practical nature and one exam.

Edexcel are working to create a new GCSE Computer Science 2013 course.  They have an anonymous questionnaire on their website so if you are thinking about a course it might be worth completing.

WJEC have also had their GCSE Computer Science course accredited. With the WJEC there are three units:

1. Understanding Computer Science (45%) - 90 minute examination to assess understanding of the theory content of the specification.
2. Solving Problems Using Computers (30%) - 2 hour external assessment to assess the practical application of knowledge and understanding through a series of on-screen tasks.
3. Developing Computing Solutions (25%) - internally assessed and externally moderated 15 hour controlled assessment to develop a piece of work using programming software following a task brief issued by WJEC. There will be a choice of two task briefs.

And not to be left out AQA have also developed a GCSE Computer Science course which is also supported by Microsoft and aligned with Microsoft Technology Associates.  There are two units: one relating to practical programming and 2 x 25 hour tasks (60%); and a computing fundamentals unit which results in a 1.5 hour exam (40%).

Curriculum Plan(CP) – HODs should produce a curriculum plan that shows an overview for the each year group taught by the department.  It should explain the key topics and demonstrate how a student would progress and develop from Yr7 through to Yr13+.  A good CP would provide adequate coverage for many different ideas and/or concepts: digital literacy; scientific, engineering & technological expertise and computer science itself.

Schemes of Learning(SOL) – The HOD should ensure that all the SOLs are developed to the highest level of professionalism – this can easily done by demonstration.  Each member of the department should take responsibility for one or more SOLs depending on their experience and position.  The minimum requirements for SOL are:

1. Overview including: learning outcomes; links to APP, Specification(in the case of KS4/5 courses) and/or a national curriculum; assessment opportunities; expected home learning tasks; and resources required.  In the case of KS4/5 courses this might be a week by week guide for a particular academic year demonstrating how the class will work through all aspects of the specification.  It would include key dates such as coursework deadlines and exam dates.
2. Lesson Guides:  typically this can be done in the format of a presentation (Teeped) with lecture notes that expand where further information is required.   Alternatives might be walkthroughs, assignment guides and video lectures.  Traditional lesson plans are not deemed necessary unless working with inexperience staff and/or particularly technical topics.  It should be left up to the teaching staff to differentiate the benchmark lesson into a format suitable for their students.   This ensures that teachers maintain ownership of a lesson and are able to input their own creative ideas.
3. Resources:  any resources that are required should be provided (soft copies only).  This includes exemplar material where possible (and recommended when linked to key assessment points).
4. Assessment Guides:  guidance on assessing the work both in student and teacher speak.  Assessment Cover sheets are ideal as these can be used to guide teachers and feedback to students so they can easily see how to improve/move to the next level.

Teaching and Learning Expectations – HOD should maintain clear expectations for other staff via clear guidance  example including:

• Smart dress;
• Excellent SPaG (Spelling and Grammar) in all communications;
• Tidy classroom with exciting and tidy displays;
• Continual Assessment in line with school policy.  Minimum (WWW/EBI)
• Seating Plans and Progress data for all classes (be wary of the OFSTED request to put the both data on the same sheet.  Better provided as separate documents)

Progress Monitoring – A key responsibility for the HOD is to ensure that progress is being made by all students, that target groups are on track and that teachers are maintaining their core responsibilities.  Demonstrating to OFSTED and SLT that you are the HOD of an Outstanding department requires data.  This can be achieved by:

• Pupil Data.  Spreadsheets (or adequate data) should be maintained showing: progress – how a student is doing against a TMG/ATG;  aptitude – what the student’s attitude is towards work, learning and other similar criteria.
• Analysis of student tracking against targets.  In particular looking at target groups and key learning/assessment objectives.  It may show the department where additional intervention is required.  This maybe in the form of recapping and catchup sessions and/or home contact – depending on student/class background/specifics.   It can also feed into the CP and inform revisions to SOLs at a department level – showing how the SOL can be improved.  And at a year group level so, for example, a year group doing poorly at System Life Cycle in year seven should have an opportunity to revisit it in year eight.
• Learning Walks, Book Scrutinises and Student Voice.  A growing focus for OFSTED is typicality and monitoring.  All three of these activities can be informative for a HOD.  This is the qualitative version of quantitative tracking where assumptions are based on experience and observed opinions rather than statistical analysis.  However, they provide valuable insights into the dynamics within year groups, staff performance and student feelings towards SOLs.
• Lesson Observations – A core aspect of ensuring typicality and performance managing teachers within the department.
• Moderation – Essential for all Assessment.

Performance – there are three areas of performance management within a department:  staff, year group and course.

• Year groups and courses will be reviewed once and staff twice with a mid-term review occurring midway through the year.  Year group reviews should and can be conducted in sync with the Analysis of student tracking against targets. Course reviews should be completed for exam courses on receipt of results.
• Staff Performance Management should be conducted within the conditions laid out by the school’s PM policy.

to be continued…