Driftwood Islands now contain a variety of animals, as voted for by the wonderful pupils at Crowdy's! These include [dancing] goats, fish and now cats. Much discussion and voting has now resulted in a cat-shaped island with stars and sparkles, natural features and a huge rock nose!Their latest island, Tutorial Plateau is also taking shape - it will contain many new puzzles including a…
We have incorporated music into both MMM and AoC this week - from the chosen chimes that indicate an object was picked up in the virtual world, to the conductivity of guitar strings!
Our Cat Island (more accurately called "Meow Meadows") was the focus this week.It looks rather more cat-like, now that the Year 9 pupils have voted on the placement of a variety of materials from which cat features can be built..
The RaceHub Sessions are taking shape, not necessarily in order! Enjoyed exploring Session 5 with the KS3 SoS group today.They had so much fun, but in the process were also super-helpful at showing me potential road-blocks in the planning - which I am racing to fine tune now!
So exciting to reveal the online link for our Crowdy's pupils. Now they can explore all five islands - as we start work on the sixth (Tutorial Plateau)
https://youtu.be/lXlbkDVjQ50 RaceHub is the new robotics project that I have been working on for some time now. It is a sister project to Robotics Link. Together they will form the RaceNode Network.RaceHub will come first: individual young people being provided with a robot to build, and to keep, with which they can join in to a supportive network and even enter into robot racing…
Thank you to everyone at Crowdys today for listening so attentively to our ChoiceBox and Secrets of Driftwood Islands update!The eagerness of pupils to volunteer to take a turn at navigating the islands and the questions about how to become involved / download the game were super encouraging! We will publish the next working draft on the Digital Writes AoC page and on the Flickernet…
The creative super-powers of Class 9C at Crowdy's have led to the creation of two new islands for the growing Secrets of Driftwood Islands world.Jungle Island involved maths skills in choosing the angle of their plant stems (having used their art skills to draw the leaves) followed by english skills in telling the story of Chloe the cat who left Cat Island to visit…
Congratulations to Tammy, Bill, David, Tarcila and all the SoS team for the publication of their book, Everything You Need to Know to Set Up a Therapeutic Alternative Provision: Exploring the School of Solutions now available to order on Amazon.I continue to deliver weekly sessions for the SoS in Swindon.These are usually focused on robotics, sometimes they are sensor based, but always wellbeing assessment led: these…
We are delighted to be working with The Ridgeway School Special Resourced Provision Unit each week, as they become the second school to create a Marvellous Musical Machine.Keith and I are looking forward to seeing where these pupils take the project, in light of their great ideas and enormous enthusiasm!This week we focused on introducing core coding skills with MicroBit extensions such as the…
Please click here to view the virtual world that Class 9G of Crowdy's have spent the last two terms building. As we prepare to begin the building of two new islands for this world with Class 9C, we are reminded of what a privilege it is to witness young people applying themselves to a unique task such as this, especially given the step that they…
The NeuroSky Mindwave unit has proven to be fascinating for many of the pupils that I teach. This was important, as part of the InFindingOut project is around self-assessment by young people of their wellbeing, inspired by the use of biometrics. We will soon by adding further sensing options - each one provides a small sample of data that can then encourage the young person to…
Having completed their animated insects (please see the video clip here)- we then built on this by showing them their insects actually flying around in the virtual world on Mushroom Meadows island.
https://youtu.be/a7MM0x1TW10 After two months of development with the intrepid and inspiring Year 9 team from the ASC at Lydiard Park Academy (see www.flickernet.net/mmm) - today the machine itself began to take shape. It will incorporate many of the experimental elements that have been explored - today we added light sensing that is converted into sounds and sound waves.
Click here to visit the Autism Support Kilkeel 3 page
A busy month:The woodland is filled with Spring life - which in turn is inspiring pupils in Primary, Secondary and Alternative Provision contexts. Projects continue to be based on the monitoring of native species in their outdoor habitats in the Mountains of Mourne.This takes place from within classrooms in and around Swindon.The therapeutic benefits of live-linked learning, directly connected to the wild, are becoming increasingly…
The Avenue The Clearing Coding Skills 1 Developing facial expressions Transmitting Expressing via Micro:Bit Thank you to everyone who attended the second ASK Woodland Coding event. This time we began by exploring ways to display and to transmit images with which to express our feelings, after which we created an environmental sensing machine. Full report here. Click here for Event Reflections
Looking forward very much to Friday this week when we will be welcoming ASK back for their Space To Learn experience.Six more children with their parents and carers will have the opportunity to build and code Micro:Bit devices that will help them to communicate what they are feeling as they explore the woodland of Mourne Park.Heartfelt thanks to Meet & Code, in association with…
About Flickernet 25: Supporting underprivileged young people Assisting schools in the South West of England Outdoor learning and remote sensing facilities (Space To Learn), in Northern Ireland Core principles:We have a Christian ethos, seeking to meet the needs of those who face disadvantage by providing access to technology and the natural world: in combination Pupil-led investigations and project-based learning ensure creative control for those who…
Just one month to go until the first Bloviator debate! Free and open to all - if you enjoy debating but haven't had much of an opportunity to construct a well-reasoned argument in front of a Chairperson for some time - then please consider joining us on the 23rd February. Full details here: www.flickernet.net/debate
Delighted to announce the start of RRC -with the ever-wonderful St Mary's Primary School! We are currently exploring which kit works best, and hoping to develop this new club in support of neurodivergent pupils soon. Thank you to Colm and the team for providing every opportunity to explore new technologies with his wonderful class - from Unity-built gaming to the upcoming WatchBox - these…
www.flickernet.net/ask Thank you to everyone who attended the first Autism Support Communicator event, which was held in Mourne Park on Saturday. Communicating our feelings as we explored the woods together: through the sending of images via Micro:Bit radio signals - it works!
Thank you Francesca for featuring my recycling blog (Jumpstart The Junk) on TrilbyTV. Having been recently introduced to Simon from the inspirational Green Machine - I am keen to continue exploring ways in which to bring old tech to life! There are so many people in need of repaired or repurposed technology - e-waste is avoided when it can still function as a valuable…
It is with great excitement that we are launching a new project which brings together the common threads of Physical Computing, Project Based Learning and a desire to see technology put to use helping those who most need it. Along with my colleague Keith Phillips, founder of Digital Writes, I am exploring the possibility of creating a new charity, which would be called Tech…
A little note to say that, sadly, I am on compassionate leave at present due to my Mum being gravely ill. My regular schools know this, and I am grateful for their understanding. My Digital Writes colleague Keith continues to deliver our current courses. Meanwhile, with time ahead in Northern Ireland, I am preparing for the upcoming Woodland Coding events, through Space To Learn,…
Thank you Clare for meeting with us today. We are really looking forward to helping your service users to develop an illuminated logo and animated text board. The club that we will run for you in the Autumn will enable those who choose to come along to work collaboratively to design, build and code a bright solar-powered phoenix that will hang in the factory…
From climbing trees in the woods of Northern Ireland whilst clutching Raspberry Pi units, to helping children who were on the cusp of quitting school to build adventure game-books, this year has been a real eye-opener to me. It is a rare privilege to become free to teach what one chooses. I hadn't dared believe that it could happen, but now Flickernet is full…
Keith and I met with Ben, a Director of Digital Writes, and an inspiration. Ben is helping us to explore a new project: using physical computing to enable those with reduced mobility to create their own unique artworks. We aim to feature these artworks in both an online space and through an installation. We will work with Primary school pupils to analyse the need,…