Decisions Decisions!

Over the last few weeks we've had a number of meetings with suppliers to help us make our purchasing decisions for next year. Not only do we have the normal replacement of some classroom PCs in Key Stage One, the laptops used around the gym have come to the end of their shelf life and need to be replaced. Our new Year 7 cohort also require laptops for the 121 programme we run at secondary.

We have been looking at the possibility of implementing tablet PCs for our Year 7 students, but have pretty much discounted this idea, mainly because of concerns over cost and durability. However, it's likely that a few tablets will make an appearance at Kellett next year as there is clearly a use for the level of interactivity these machines offer, for example, as teachers or students model writing. We have had three tablets for evaluation recently, two from HP and one from Dell. Some teachers have used them in the classroom and a number of pupils have had a go at using the character recognition. Personally I like the look and feel of the Dell, but the character recognition of the HP seems much more efficient.

Later this week we will be receiving a couple of HP Mininotes to trial. These are currently being considered for Year 7 use in 08 along with two models from Dell. I hope that the current Year 7 will be able to use them for a while and offer their feedback in relation to the Dell laptops they have been using.

Thanks to Ddraig-Goch for passing on this helpful evaluation of the Mininote.

Digital Photography Competition Results

If you haven't looked, the results of the Digital Photography Competition are now on the wall outside the Music Room. The standard was very high and it was extremely difficult for the judges to make their decisions. In each year group a number of entries were awarded a highly commended note alongside the year group winner.

So difficult was it to separate entries, that joint winners were declared in the P4 section. To be perfectly honest, any of the photos that received highly commended could have won their relevant section.

Congratulations to Florence who won the Overall Prize... an amazing picture (see below).

Well done to everybody that entered, I have been so impressed with your work and I know others have been too.

Are You Paying Attention?

Good to see the often mentioned Derek Robertson getting some press in the UK for his groundbreaking work on games-based learning. His pilot project on the use of the Nintendo DS within Numeracy has now been funded to allow for a larger scale study after the Easter break. It will be fascinating to hear how it goes.

Derek did the rounds on the BBC last week, filming interviews for Breakfast TV as well as Radio Scotland. As is normal, the BBC felt obliged to provide a couch opponent to games-based learning who managed to completely miss the point!

Judge for yourself!

My thanks to Ewan McIntosh for editing these clips together. Copyright BBC2008