ICT @ RC

The classes in Infants have been working hard at learning how to get around their computers. The classes are getting quicker at logging on and opening different programs. Here is a little snippet of the beautiful colouring Kindergarten completed with KidPix today. They are working at holding their mice correctly and learning the letters on the keyboard. Year one were very impressive at logging on and using “Paint” to create a picture of themselves. Year Two are passionate about creating PowerPoint presentations about their discoveries to do with water which they are studying in HSIE.
Kindergarten shine in ICT on PhotoPeach

Year 1 experiments with “Paint” on PhotoPeach

What a busy time we have had in the Junior School! We are so fortunate to now have laptops for grades 3-6! The students in these grades have been learning how to install their printers, organise files, to pin short cuts to the desk top and task bar. Now that we have all the basics sorted and log ons working, we can get using technology in class. We have also been discussing how we can keep ourselves safe when using the internet and email. Infants have mastered their log on technique and realise the importance of keeping passwords private. Sometimes it is tricky to make up a password that is easy to type but they have all done a brilliant job. We look forward to sharing some of our beautiful work with you soon.

Welcome to 2012 in ICT. We have been very busy rolling out the new laptops and learning how to use the new log on system in all classes. It has been  encouraging to see the enthusiasm of all students as they enjoy the ease of the new system. We look forward to getting started on subject related activities in the coming weeks.

Kindergarten have been busy creating beautiful invitations and menus for a special healthy lunch they are having with their Year 6 buddies. They have been using KidPix and have a had a lot of fun finding appropriate pictures.

Year One made some beautiful thank you certificates for people who help them. They have started a new venture last week creating a story in Little Bird Tales. They will narrate the story over the next week.

Year Two are continuing to study transport in class and have made some inspiring forms of transport from recycled materials. In ICT we are designing a poster to advertise their transport creation by importing a digital photo in 2Publish+ and using persuasive language to describe it.

Year Three have been creating avatars to use on their Rosepod profile using Build Your Wildself. They have had so much fun experimenting with the different features. Once some very fun looking avatars had been uploaded, the girls then started investigating different digital devices.

Year Four have been learning to submit assignments through Rosepod which has been a source of excitement. They are also creating a photostory about their excursion to Roseville shops. There have been some very persuasive arguments for why we should all shop at Roseville!

Year Five have been learning about gaming. The girls have analysed some online games and and participated in forums on Rosepod to ascertain what features of games make them successful and engaging. The next part of the process is to plan a story board of their own game that they will create using PowerPoint. Excitement level is high!

Year Six completed their Murder Under The Microscope investigations and enjoyed using EtherPad to collaboratively share their findings. There was healthy rivalry between the two classes and verdicts were reached! The girls are now moving on to looking at presentation tools such as Prezi and animations in PowerPoint.

Kindergarten – are looking at places they know and walked around the school taking photos of those places. The were very careful to use the wrist strap to avoid any dropped cameras. The girls took some beautiful photos and are now making a digital story using Photostory3.

Year One – made graphs to display the data they collected in class about the different jobs they all do at home using 2Publish+. They have also made a beautiful mind map of all the different occupations they know about using 2 Publish but found locating the right images a little challenging – great to see them aiming high.

Year Two – have continued to their study into transport. They are creating a table in Word which highlights the progression of transport over the years. The girls learnt how to use ctrl+mouse click to open a link in a document and are learning the tools associated with Microsoft Word very quickly.

Year Three – Are creating a display of the pictures they changed in Photoshop. The girls also explored some of the features of Rosepod (moodle) and participated in their first forum. There were some very insightful comments made which is so encouraging.

Year Four – are finishing off their National Parks portfolio which incorporate surveys, Excel data sheets, graphs and screen shots of National Parks taken from Google Earth. They have learnt such a lot in a very short amount of time.

Year Five – have been working furiously to complete their final Scratch projects. It is fantastic to see the girls work collaboratively, problem solve and try something that is challenging. Well done.

Year Six – watch out Pixar and Dreamworks! Year 6 are now brilliant movie editors. All the advertising clips are complete and ready for viewing in week 4. An impressive effort everyone. Well done!

Kindergarten used 2Publish+ to write a sentence or two about what they did in their holidays. The girls are remembering to use capital letters and full stops. There are some beautiful pictures to go with their sentences. Have a look at their page to see their completed work.

Year One are using Kidspiration to create a mind map of all the different jobs they know about. The girls are discussing the jobs together as they find images to go with the different occupations.

Year Two used 2Publish+ to create a table to classify different types of transport. The three categories they started with were air, land and sea. The girls tried to find examples of olden day types of transport as well as modern types.

Year Three are learning a lot in Photoshop. There certainly have been some challenges in editing photos. This week the girls added text to describe parts of bikes they had coloured with the brush tool. We also had a look at Rosepod and the girls learnt how they can access their files at home as well as look at their different course pages.

Year Four have nearly completed their National Parks project. They are compiling a portfolio which includes the survey they designed in Word, an Excel document which contains the data they collated in their survey and a graph of that data. Formatting has been a real focus and the girls have done a great job.

Year Five learnt how to use Rosepod this week. They participated in a forum giving constructive feedback on their experiences so far in Scratch. Year 5 are busy now completing their last mini project in Scratch.

Year Six are adding the final touches to their advertising projects in Windows Live Movie Maker. They have learnt to save their work regularly to avoid heart ache in case the program freezes. The collaborative discussion has resulted in some very creative editing and we hope to start watching the completed products very soon.

Kindergarten - have been writing sentences about themselves in 2Publish+. They also drew beautiful pictures of themselves to go with their writing. Kindergarten are really growing in confidence with their computer skills.

Year One – drew some beautiful pictures of Aboriginal musical instruments in 2Publish+. They wrote about the materials that the instruments were made from. They also learnt how to use shape tools this week to draw 2D shapes.

Year Two – have just completed a beautiful Photo Story about the History of Roseville College. The girls research what the school was like in the past and then compared it to present times. Year 2 recorded themselves reading their research projects and produced a book about their findings.

Year Three - are testing their artistic talents in Photoshop. They are quickly learning how to turn layers on and off, how to paint different colours onto photos and labelling parts of the photos with the text tool. It is a very challenging project but those clever Year Three students are doing a brilliant job.

Year Four – have continued their discussion and surveys about issues surrounding our National Parks. The data which the girls collected over the past few lessons is being put into an Excel spreadsheet so that they can then produce a graph. The spreadsheets are looking very colourful and it’s great to see Year Four experimenting with the formatting tools.

Year Five – have been perfecting their Scratch projects…no they are not itchy, Scratch is a programming language. We viewed some of the completed projects this week. Very impressive. We have some budding programmers in Year 5 who have designed games, plays and activities.

Year Six – have experienced some frustration with editing their advertising videos. We seem to have solved the technical hitches and are our advertising experts are now editing their projects in Movie Maker Live. With a keen eye for detail, the girls are ensuring transitions are smooth, slogans are convincing and entertainment factor is high!

What a busy term it has been. We sadly waved good bye to Mrs Clayton and look forward to seeing her back soon. In her absence, Mrs Woldhuis will continue to update the blog to keep you informed.

Kindergarten have been busy looking at data and making graphs in Kidspiration. They have been using stamps to display their data and have been learning to format their pages to look really special.

Year One have produced some impressive brochures on “How to look after your Pet” using 2Publish+. They were able to draw some beautiful pictures to accompany their information.

Year Two have been studying the history of Roseville College. We went on a photo walk around the school pointing out the different historical buildings. The girls are busy now creating a page in Word about the area they found interesting. They are about to record their information into Photostory to accompany their pictures.

Year Three have been very industrious creating spreadsheets in Excel and creating graphs.  The girls then copied their graphs into Word and have made some beautiful posters promoting a Pizza Day for school. Keep up the great work Year Three.

Year Four have been flying around the world with Google Earth. They landed back in Australia to have a closer look at National Parks. Year Four have created a list of interesting features in different National Parks using the ‘table’ function in Word. They are now studying different issues facing National Parks and have designed a survey about those issues.

Year Five have have been developing their skills in Scratch. What is Scratch? Scratch is a programming language that which allows you to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art. After learning the basic skills in Scratch, the girls are now creating their very own project with impressive results.

Year Six are advertising experts! The girls have been designing their very own advertisements. Filming is now complete and editing will be starting next week. Their videos have been very persuasive and the girls have learnt a lot about filming techniques, advertising tricks and how jingles and slogans can add to their final production. Very impressive work so far!

In the past two weeks……

Kindergarten and Year 1 used Kidpix to colour Easter baskets. They used the fill colour functions to colour the actual basket. They then added Easter pictures using the stamps and finally typed their own name on their picture. Their Easter baskets can be found on their page.

Year 2 were finishing off their PowerPoints by adding images. I am so impressed at how well they have used the features of PowerPoint. Next term we are hoping to show our presentations to the class.

Year 3 were introduced to Edmodo, a tool they will be using next term in class

Year 4 finished off their glogs about Cyber-safety. The links to these glogs can be found on their page.

Year 5 created a word document about what they have learnt about the reliability of websites.I will place these on their page.

Year 6 sadly missed both their lessons these past two weeks due to excursions and teacher illness.

This week

Kindergarten used Kidpix to create pictures using small, medium and large stamps. They had lots of fun changing the size of the stamps. Their work will be on their page.

Year 1 used Kidspiration to learn about their senses. They had to find pictures they could smell, touch, taste, hear and see.

Year 2 worked further on their PowerPoints. They are doing really well. They learnt how to add backgrounds and transitions today and hopefully we will be finished by next week.

Year 3 used Audacity to create an MP3 of themselves reading an exposition they had written this term. Their sound might be a little soft so we are going to try again next week using headphones with a microphone rather than the inbuilt mic in the netbooks.

Year 4 worked on creating a glog about cybersafety. I look forward to being able to post the links to these a little later in the term.

Year 5 discovered the truth about the Pacific North-Western Tree Octopus. We had a really informative discussion about the reliability of websites and the internet in general. I hope everyone has learnt a valuable lesson…..I have.

Year 6A learnt more about Excel graphs and how to insert them into spreadsheets or as charts of their own. They created some amazing graphs which can be found on their page soon.

Year 6O used Xtranormal to create movies about cybersafety and the reliability of websites. I look forward to placing the links to these on their page really soon.