Google Map tracks Election result

This blog uses lots of embeddable code, to add content from other websites. Google have produced a good example, a map that updates live to show the results of the US Presidential election.

Learning to type...

Many children are making good progress with English Type Junior; just look at the concentration!


Learning to Type from Bilton Grange on Vimeo.

WoW 1st October 2008

WoW 1st October 2008 from Bilton Grange on Vimeo.

Geo Greeting!

Send a Geo-greeting to a friend. Read a sample message here.

Doodling for Google

Google has been holding a competition for children to design their own Google Logo. You can see the winners here

Up up and away...

This hot-air balloon was spotted from the Junior classrooms' windows early this morning- we thought Sir Richard Branson might be dropping in, but it appeared to be landing somewhere towards Grandborough!

Bilton Grange in the 1970s...

Part 1-


Part 2- Hockey, playing on the lawns, and Section Cross-Country


Part 3-

Bilton Grange in the 1960s...

More fascinating footage from the cine films made by Joe Richardson- including what may be one of the last Chapel Choir photographs from the era of Mark Pasteur...

Bilton Grange 1961-3

Part 1- including boxing, raft-building and winter fun...



Part 2- the foundations of the Ravenscroft Hall are laid and a Time Capsule is buried in a special ceremony...



Part 3- The Ravenscroft Hall is opened by the Bishop of Coventry. 

BG in the late 1950s...

BG in 1953

Some fascinating historical footage of Bilton Grange in 1953 has emerged. It was taken by Mr Joe Richardson, a long-serving French master at the school, who died earlier this year, and who was remembered at the Chapel Service yesterday, attended by many of his former pupils. He had a cine camera and one of his hobbies was making home movies showing life at Bilton Grange. These are now a valuable historical record, and we have started to upload them to the Internet so that they can be seen by a wider audience than just those who attended the service.

We hope that the present-day children of BG will also find them fascinating- just how has the school changed?

Spreadsheets

The Third Form are starting to learn about spreadsheets this term:

The Shambles site has links to some useful resources and so does the Northumberland site.

WoW 17th September

WoW live, 17th September 2008 from Bilton Grange on Vimeo.

School desk of the future

Newsround are reporting on what might just be the school desk of the future...

Google Docs explained

A new way of sharing documents...

Shift Happens

An influential video about the growth in technology...

Skull or PC?

NS Optimum, who supply BG with computer equipment and support, have built a computer shaped like a skull! Can you even visualise our ICT room equipped with 20 skulls...?

Photography tips- portraits

Two video tutorials with basic tips about how to take good photographs of people.

Digital Literacy II- an anthropological study of YouTube

A fascinating hour-long lecture about the impact of YouTube on the digital world. This is by a University Lecturer of anthropology, Dr Michael Wesch, and presented at the US Congress Library, so is not aimed at younger children, but for staff and parents with an interest in technology, it's a worthwhile way of passing a spare hour!

"If Web 1.0 linked information, then Web 2.0 links people"

Festival Week 2002

In 2002 we made a video documenting Festival Week in June. It's now available to view online.

What the Victorians did for us...

On their visit to the Black Country Museum in October 2002, the Thirds had to make a documentary entitled "What the Victorians did for us".

Adventure training

An adventure training weekend to Bryn Haford, Wales, in October 2002, captured on film and edited by Edward Stephenson.

How not to Play Cricket!- 2001 style

A match from the archives- Bilton Grange Colts A v 2nd XI, Summer Term 2001

Buddies!

One of the first Videos made back in 2000 when we got an iMac in school that could edit digital video. This was a Sunday afternoon creation, to be played as a trailer before the Boarders' big screen movie in the Ravenscroft Hall.

Under Nine Rugby 2001

Under Nine Rugby Practice in Michaelmas Term 2001

Final WoW of the Summer Term 2008

A farewell to Wheels- the final WoW of the summer term!

Black Country Museum

A nostalgic look back at the Third form visit to the Black Country Museum in 2001

From the BG Video Archives

Some of our older videos have been uploaded to YouTube, where they will undoubtedly be of interest to the OBs who appeared in them. First in this series are two videos from a 2001 trip for the third form to the RAF museum in Hendon. The first video shows the aircraft museum part and the second the Science 'Fun n' Flight" hands-on activities. One or two elder brothers and sisters of current BG pupils feature- can you spot them?

Digital Literacy

What is Digital Literacy? 

A rather complicated academic essay suggests that in the 21st Century, the traditional skills of being able to read and write and do Maths are not enough. We need to be able to understand new media such as Video, Audio, and Web technologies such as blogging, podcasting and social networking, and use them well.

"Literacy today depends on understanding the multiple media that make up our high-tech reality and developing the skills to use them effectively."

An example of how this is shown to be true follows... 

The advert for the iPod Touch below was made by a British teenager, Nick Haley, and posted to YouTube as a spoof Apple ad. Apple's ad agency saw it, liked it, offered him a job in California and even used his ad for real!

Olympic Slide Show

Last term, the Thirds and Juniors learned to use Microsoft Movie Maker, making slide shows about Skern Lodge. Here is a slide show made by DRN to celebrate the end of the 2008 Olympic Games. It was made using Final Cut Express, a semi-professional version of video-editing software, and closely related to Final Cut Pro, used by the BBC and many film editors to produce their work. DRN writes:

"The Olympics may be over, but there are plenty of performances of which the competitors can be proud. Continuing a tradition I started at Sydney 2000, when we at BG could of course celebrate the achievement of Katharine Merry winning Bronze, of making a slide show with the best images of the Olympic Games, here is this year's offering... "


Olympics 2008 Slide Show from rogbi200 on Vimeo.

And below, out of retirement for nostalgia's sake, is the Sydney 2000 slide show.

Sydney Olympic Games Slideshow from rogbi200 on Vimeo.

...and the Slide show from Athens 2004.

Athens Olympics 2004 Slide Show from rogbi200 on Vimeo.

These children have been using Wordle to make word pictures about the Olympics.

What is a Wiki?

Next in this useful series of videos explaining different Web technologies is the Wiki...

The Hi-tech school blazer...

There's something rather miserable about seeing 'Back to School' displays in the shops at the start of the summer holidays, but before long, some of you will have to face the need for new uniform. All our uniform is supplied by the School shop, but one high street store has come up with a very hi-tech school blazer, complete with iPod pocket and built-in controls, all concealed so they can't be spotted!

Apparently, "teachers are furious"!!

Me and my movie

CBBC has a movie making competition running at the moment, but you'd better be quick, the closing date is 6th October. Their 'Me and my Movie' website has some useful tips. There's also a downloadable guide.

Podium explained...

Wilbur the Worm explains how to use the podcasting software Podium. (PDF download)

RSS explained...

So you have have seen or heard about RSS feeds. Find out what they are, why they are really useful, and the best way to manage them.

So what exactly is a blog?

The true 'Indie Movie'

Further to the post about making your own movie, I came across an extract of a 'remake' of the Indiana Jones film 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', made by three teenage boys over a seven year period between 1982 and 1989. It is a scene by scene remake and is an amazing achievement, bearing in mind the technical limitations of the time.




Also worth watching are the entries for a home movie competition held by Hammer & Tongs, who made 'Son of Rambow', for a film to be included on the extras section of the DVD. The entries can be seen here.

Make your own Movie!

In the days before digital video cameras and Youtube, it was often only possible for home users to make a movie with access to a Cine Camera, using film that had to be sent away to be developed and had to be edited with a pair of scissors and tape! Then video tape came along, but early cameras were big and heavy, and the tape was still very hard to edit.

I was reminded of this recently by two related things. Firstly, I bought the DVD of a recent movie, called 'Son of Rambow'. It tells the story of two very different boys growing up in 1983, one (Lee) the worst behaved boy in the school and the other (Will) brought up in a strictly religious Plymouth Brethren household, with no TV. The two form an unlikely alliance to make a film inspired by the Rambo movie as a competition entry for the BBC TV children's show of the time, Screen Test. I though it was a great film, and it has received great reviews as well. Though the film is a 12 Certificate, the clips and the content on the UK and US websites seems suitable for younger pupils to watch.

There is an interview with both the stars on the Popcorn website (Incidentally, Popcorn is a really good movie site for children) as well as a DVD review.

Shortly afterwards, I came upon a blog post talking about the Cambridgeshire Young People's Film Festival which featured children from schools in the county who had made a film- there are some fantastic efforts and I recommend you visit the site and take a look for yourself! 

It so happened that one of the boys who starred in 'Son of Rambow' was invited to this festival as a special guest!

So, get inspired for your own Movie-making!

Top ten websites for young British internet users

The Times newspaper's website has been investigating the most popular websites for British children.

Blog Incipit...

Welcome to the ICT department blog. Mr Noble and Mr Taylor hope to post regular entries about interesting things you can do with ICT, introducing some of the software available and tips about keeping your e-mail and home directories tidy and well organised. We'll also be publishing the best of some of your work here, so keep visiting!

Look out for some useful links to other websites, including some really good online resources, and the blogroll of other School ICT related blogs.

There are always new things to discover in the world of ICT, and it's good to keep up with these new ideas- even better to think of them...


ideate from ax09001h on Vimeo.