The onward march of 2012 is relentless – one month gone, and it is less than 5 months of teaching days before the Academic year as at an end. And in that time, we are going to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee, educate and examine our children, plan for the future and hopefully have a lot of fun along the way.  Wednesday 1 February is Digital Learning Day – and on Wednesday 450+ members of the ISANet digital community will (I hope) take part in a Schools use of Social Media Survey – I’ll report back later!

Schools are rapidly adopting a more professional approach to the use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to protect and ‘build’ their brand. ISANet’s technical officer Ian Nairn has produced this report on a major broadcast in the states on the use of Social Media in Schools – http://goo.gl/uatnF

Notwithstanding the Google things I am up to my ears in (see here for the latest courses we are running to end June 2012) , I am researching ‘whither science, computers and schools’? The whole Brian Cox thing, sexing up Physics, bringing on a new generation enthused with the idea of studying the ‘stars’ for a degree is real, not imagined. Today’s celebration of 70 years of Desert Island Discs has arguably the world’s most famous naturalist, and Frozen Planet didn’t t just attract 6.8 million viewers for fun. Science is back with a Big Bang.

That’s why I am highlighting the arrival this year in the UK of the Google Science Fair,
Here’s the link – http://www.google.com/events/sciencefair/
Here’s the link for teachers to plan – http://www.google.com/events/sciencefair/educators.html
Here’s help – http://www.google.com/events/sciencefair/site.html

As well as Natural Science, Computer Science is in our face too – recent reports have trashed what we are currently doing, and here’s the underpinning thoughts for a new curriculum from start to finish – http://goo.gl/8GJ1K, endorsed by BCS, Microsoft and Google. And here’s a fun site for Computer Science – no that’s not an Oxymoron – seriously, get your school back to the future by engaging the Geeks! Oh, and if you are really all in the dark about what Computer Science is all about, here’s some easy stuff from the folk at Bristol University.

“The countdown is on… Stay tuned for updates from the world’s biggest blogging project that will see blogging stripped down to just 2 clicks! Feb29th.net is a global blogging project that will cross all age groups and continents. As soon as Feb 29th 2012 begins in Tonga, the Feb29th.net will open up for posts for one day only. This blog will capture posts from all over our planet on this rare day until midnight in the Western Pacific. The result will not only be a celebration of technology, but a celebration of audience and purpose, who will be the youngest author? Who will be the oldest? Which country will top the most posts? Will there be any marriage proposals?
The aim is to allow any visitor on 29th Feb to post; these will be moderated on the day, as this will also be open to pupils in educational establishments across the globe. Please add your email address in the box below to subscribe to this site. Also feel free to spread the word using the Twitter and Facebook icons below.
Together, we will prove that blogging is safe and there really is POWER in the audience!”

Here’s the link: http://feb29th.net/

So many junior schools are raising their pupils’ literacy in great leaps and bounds through blogging and tweeting, you ought to have a look!

James Wilding
jtw@clairescourt.com
@james_wilding
jameswilding.wordpress.com