Mr P's ICT blog - Tech to raise standards!

On Friday, I presented at the Literacy Shed Conference in Bury alongside  @redgierob , @bryngoodman and @readingexplorers.  The two day conference focused on all things Literacy with John Murray demonstrating and sharing his unique insight into developing key reading skills. Rob shared his ideas and strategies to develop a visual literacy curriculum. Bryn share his first hand experience in using the Shed and the impact it had. I then discussed all things iPad and how to use the internet to have a real impact on children's learning. The real star of the two days though, didn't even present!  @gazneedle , is a KS1 teacher at St Josephs in Shaw. I have done some training at his school and he is a true gent. But I was in complete awe of his notetaking ability. Armed with a notepad and pencil case he went to work producing some stunning cartoon like notes throughout the two days! I don't know how he managed to do it while keeping up with what was being shared! A...

I am very happy to announce that I will be leading a two day course for schools in Dubai in October 2014. Working alongside IT Training and Consultancy , I will be sharing different ideas, apps and strategies to make the most of using iPads to enhance learning in the curriculum. Please contact Shama for more information and to book a place. It seems there maybe some technical difficulties with the email address provided. If so, please send through any details/questions to davyhulme.ipad@gmail.com

The course on Monday 22nd September at the Village hotel in Whiston near Liverpool. Over 92 teachers attended and the atmosphere was fantastic! The aims of the day were to provide teachers with a range of ideas and strategies to successfully use technology through different web tools and iPad apps to enhance learning in Numeracy, Literacy and other cross curriculum subjects. This conference is being repeated in the following places - 4th November - Middlesborough 18th November - Peterborough 8th December - London 27th January - Walsall Places are available on all the above courses and just follow the link for details to book. The feedback from the conference was incredible, I am so thankful to everyone for their kind words, was lovely to hear how much you enjoyed it! 60 Evaluations – 58 – Rated the content and delivery as Excellent 2 – Rated the content and delivery as good. Simply... WOW!     Thank you so much for today... My head is buzzing an...

I am very proud to announce that my new eBook - 15 iPad lesson ideas for 'The Tudors' is now available on the iBook store! This brand new eBook will share 15 inspiring and engaging lessons using the iPad to bring the Tudor topic alive in the classroom.  With cross curricular link and references to the New Primary Curriculum, the book will help teachers looking for ways to enhance learning through the use of mobile technology.  ‘The Tudors’ is one of the most popular topics covered in the Primary Curriculum. Despite not being directly linked in the New Primary Curriculum there are still opportunities to cover this fascinating topic in class. Even if you don't teach 'The Tudors,' most of the ideas shared in this eBook can easily be adapted for any topic in the new History curriculum. Featuring a range of apps including - Lino, Thinglink, Puppetpals to name a few! The eBook also links to Android versions of apps wherever possible. All of the...

I rarely look forward to an app as much as I did when I first heard of Musomic.  After working alongside Mat (@inspiredmind5)  and reading his fantastic book (pictured) I quickly realised the potential of using comics in the classroom. There are plenty of comic apps available on the iPad, my favourites being Comic Life, Strip Designer and Comics Head. Musomic, however is completely different and provides a whole range of fantastic literacy opportunities! Here is a video showing the basics of the Musomic app: There are a range of different themed packs that you can purchase and download. For the next couple of days, all of the content is FREE so be quick and get them downloaded! But it is the fact that you have professionally designed images to work with in creating your own comics is such a fantastic tool. It can inspire writing in so many ways, from planning stories, investigating characters, retelling stories, creating comics and classroom posters to name just a...

   A few years back, I managed to acquire a visualiser through collecting Tesco vouchers. I was to trial using it in class with the intention of then purchasing them for other classes if worthwhile. It quickly transformed my teaching! Being able to demonstrate examples through shared writing, share children's work with the whole class, uplevel and edit children's work were just a few ways I used it to enhance my teaching. It led to the school buying a visualiser for each class teacher - each costing approximately around £200-£250 each at that time, this may now have changed. About a year later, we made the decision to invest in iPads (costing around £250 each at the time, the same price or even cheaper of a visualiser,) and this made the visualisers almost redundant along with the interactive whiteboard. One of the many great features of the iPad is that it can easily become an interactive visualiser, but what sets it apart, is the fact it is mobile and therefore gives t...