Thursday, July 26, 2007
Friday, April 06, 2007
GATM Revamp!
Had a little bit of a play with the homepage, and to be honest the whole site is a bit of a mess I will sort it in time. However not got an introductory screencast on homepage and links to blog and bliptv channel. I have also put a donate button on homepage just to meet costs of website hosting and domain name. The rest (if I get any) I will give to charity.
Let me know what you think!?!
GCSE Leisure and Tourism Revision Byte
The revision material for GCSE Leisure and Tourism on the net is I always find disappointing. There is the revision pack from edexcel that can be downloaded here. The Work Related Learning Website for the North East is also a useful resource.
In comparison to Geography the big gap seems to exist that as a teacher I find frustrating is a BBC Bitesize resource to aid revision. This is not just in terms of its online content but also the lack of revision based videos that are so useful in other subjects.
So here is the plan....
I am going to make a series of my own Bitesize clips that I am calling a Revision Byte, aimed at GCSE Leisure and Tourism. These will eventually cover the whole qualification and will eventually be available on a separate blog or website (I will see how it goes). I also will add pages to support revision and resources to download.
I will evaluate the project on this blog, and if interested you subscribe to blog update from the geography at the movies website.
As I will not and can not spend any money on this I will be searching the web for all sorts of video clips etc. So this will also be interesting to see what is actually out there that we as teachers can use and adapt. May it be legal or not?!?
Right so I have Windows Movie Maker to put the video together. Audacity to add narration to video. Blip.tv to host the video. All these products are free. I have also downloaded a trial of Camtasia Studio which is a great bit of software, but I did not use it in my first movie.
So with no further chat here is my first video, it focuses on the first part of "The Travel and Tourism Industry" part of the specification (page 14 for edexcel).
It states (copied directly from Edexcel spec)
You will need to know what tourism is. Tourism is a broad area to define but it usually covers temporary travel away from home or work. An essential part of tourism is the traveller’s intention to return home afterwards. The purpose of visits includes:
• a holiday
• sightseeing
• visiting an attraction
• visiting friends or relatives
• going to a sports event as a spectator or to participate
• business.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Crazy Talk 2
Very much enjoying this I think it could be used to make some excellent visual resources. Just as many possible e learning tools of value out of the price range of a teacher. Well deffiently mine anyway.
Anyway one more example before I put it to bed for now. An introduction to the British Isles. Source of audio here.
Crazy Talk
I saw the ICT Department playing with this the other day so thought I would give it a try.
The software is called Crazy Talk its fairly simple to use!
1. Find a picture of a person
2. Add your voice
3. Crazy talk does the rest
4. It can be saved as a wmv file and imported into Windows Movie Maker to add music and effects.
The full version comes without the logo that you can see with my example, although it is pricey! However there is a 15 day free trial, and good fun.
I wanted to make one using Sherlock Holmes to introduce how to go about solving a thinking skills mystery because I often find it hard to explain and the students are more likely to listen to him. Maybe a set of clips that can remind the students of how they should go about solving the mystery as they go.
However the logo would be annoying. Instead I have settled for GATM's most famous supporter. Nice accent Shane! Oh and if you ever read this Mr Warne...this is for educational purposes only!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Latest Updates
Recently recieved this from Christine LS which is a "Baraka" style movie.
Baraka's subject matter includes footage of various landscapes, churches, ruins, religious ceremonies, and cities thrumming with life, filmed using time-lapse photography in order to capture the great pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity. (Source: Wikipedia)
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Geogdocs Under Way!
Many thanks to the teachers who have spent time to send in pupil work and indeed the pupils themselves. A random example of a pupil movie:
Monday, February 05, 2007
Geogdocs
Geography at the Movies has a sister site for pupils!
I am very excited to be awarded the RGS Innovative Teaching Grant and have launched the site above. Even if you dont take part the resources and scheme of work may be useful.
The site needs a bit of work but my online tutorials will be good if you need something to send you off to sleep!