With the news this morning regarding the disruption of European flights due to the ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano in Iceland I decided to post some very interesting cloud maps, photos, and video regarding this.
Great to show the class using an interactive whiteboard or data projector, really bring the news into perspective and incorporates geography too.
Mexico is being featured in the news the past week regarding the H1N1 influenza A outbreak. I created a map of Mexico that will help greatly the teaching of geography, the printable Mexico PDF is available to download and print, and is ideal for copying.
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on the 17 March and we have prepared a PDF worksheet with some great maps of Ireland and a flag you can colour. The worksheet is great for learning about Ireland's major cities and counties and perfect for printing to use in the classroom. Download the Ireland PDF Document (1.13MB).
Latest reports say the oil slick off the Old Head of Kinsale covers an estimated 40 sq km of the Celtic Sea and could hit the Irish or British coastline within 16 days. The Russian aircraft carrier flotilla believed responsible for the spill is pictured in the top left hand corner of the photograph, (Irish Times 18 Feb 2009). Learn more: Irish Times, RTÉ News, Irish Coast Guard (Includes More Photos).
The spill was picked up by the European Maritime Safety Agency’s (EMSA) CleanSeaNet satellite monitoring system on Saturday, above is the satellite photo from the agency, learn more.
Many schools I have visited around Ireland have large TVs in each classroom, and I have been asked how easy or what do I need to hook a laptop to the TV. I have put together a quick suggestion list for doing this below; in general you have three choices depending on TV and laptop.
1) Most laptops have S-Video out on them, and these can be hooked up to any TV via s-video or scart. The down side is the quality is not the best, but it's cheap and will work with old laptops and tvs, even non flat screen. You will also need a cable to output your audio from the laptop and into the TV.
2) HDMI, all new flat screen TVs have HDMI input. This is the best option with by far the best quality. Your desktop or laptop can either have DVI or HDMI output (Not VGA). Most new Dell, HP and Lenovo laptops have HDMI output, but check before you purchase. Almost every desktop computer now has DVI output.
A DVI to HDMI Converter costs only €10, HDMI cables are about €15 in Aldi, but make sure it is long enough. The benefit of HDMI is that it offers excellent image quality, better than most projectors and in full HD, and it outputs both video and sound. DVI to HDMI all in one cables are also available.
3) VGA, very few new LCD TVs have VGA input, I would not recommend this option for new equipment. You should be purchasing laptops with HDMI or DVI output as it's the newest standard. VGA does not work with HDMI or DVI as it's an analogue signal, not digital. This requires an expensive converter that costs over €200. So only use VGA if your current TV already has a VGA connector.
From what I have checked most Dell laptops either have HDMI or it’s an option at time of purchase, in my local Click.ie store the cheapest laptop with HDMI was a Lenovo for €550. All Apple computers can output DVI, HDMI and s- video. Most Sony and some HP laptops also have HDMI but check before you purchase.
TV, make sure your LCD TV is HD-Ready and can display 720p signal, the shop assistant will know this, if you have the budget for it purchase 1080p Full-HD, but you will only notice the quality if the screen size is greater than 40 inches or greater. 720 and 1080 refers to the resolution and thus the image quality, 720 or 1080 is the number of vertical pixels, your computer screen right now will be at least 1024x768, and the 768 refers to the vertical pixels. A standard TV has 480i pixels, the “i” refers to interlacing, which switches half the lines when refreshing, “p” is progressive, better quality.
HDMI cables can be purchase from Argos, www.elara.ie or even Aldi. Elara.ie has great prices for the audio, s-video and HDMI cables.
In relation to VGA, I was asked that a lot of projectors require VGA and so some thought this was necessary for their laptop; DVI can be easily and cheaply converted to VGA using a low cost converter for only €10. This will take the digital signal and convert it to analogue, but converting from analogue to digital is much more expensive, and requires an up converter that costs €200. Most laptops will still have VGA out, so don't worry if that is included as well.
UPDATE: 09 Feb 2009 Today I was in Currys, they have some great deals on laptops. One that I noticed was a Compaq CQ70, this is a 17" Laptop 2GHz Dual Core, 2GB Ram, HDMI Out, 160GB HDD and Windows Vista Premium all for only €499. This is great value for a very nice spec and a big screen, highly recommend.
We will be exhibiting at the 2009 CESI National Conference, the exhibit hall will be held on February 14th: Coláiste de h-Íde, Castle Tymon Road, Tallaght, there is also a series of presentations being held on Friday evening at the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght.
To find out more about the conference visit the CESI Conference website. There are many great workshops over the weekend, you can download the printable PDF programme here.
Please visit our booth where you can see and try our latest software including the all new Know Your Europe 2.0, and our recently released Know Your Ireland and Know Your USA. We hope to see you there.
Japan's Mount Asama volcano has erupted, spewing smoke almost 2km (1.3 miles) into the air and causing ash to drift over parts of the capital of Japan, Tokyo. Mount Asama is located 145km (90 miles) North West of Tokyo.
Google today updated Google Earth to version 5.0 this new version adds excellent educational content including vast information about the Seas and Oceans.
Download the new version, it's free and works extremely well with an interactive whiteboard in the classroom. Don't forget all our software includes links to all topics covered in Google Earth, download and try our software today.
Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America yesterday, January 20, 2009. Our worksheet on the USA is a great school resource and exercise for students. I have also posted some useful links below with photos and more information for the classroom.
January 20, 2009 is inauguration day for the new president of the United States, Barack Obama. To celebrate the inauguration we have created a nine page worksheet (1.0 MB) about the United States, perfect for school. If you want to learn more about the United States please consider our awarding winning Know Your USA software.
Page 1: Map of USA with Regions and States marked. Page 2: Join the Dots maps of the USA. Page 3: Map with each State name and the Capital. Page 4: Name the States of the USA pop quiz worksheet. Page 5: Blank Flag of the United States, great for colouring. Page 6: Barack Obama factfile with colouring. Page 7: Washington DC factfile with photos. Page 8: Barack Obama factfile and photo. Page 9: US Election Results worksheet, colour in the winner of each state.
This worksheet is perfect for printing and photocopying. It is a great introduction to the United States and excellent classroom activity for the inauguration.
We also have a free online quiz for testing your knowledge of each State in the United States. Play it online at our website. Remember that each aspect of the USA is covered in detail in our award winning Know Your USA software. You can also watch the YouTube Animaniacs cartoon clip we posted a few weeks ago, a quick way to introduce the United States to younger children.
The inauguration takes place at 12:00 in Washington DC (17:00 GMT) on Tuesday January 20, this is too late to watch in school, but our worksheet is perfect classwork or for home work exercise that evening.
We will be attending the CESI Conference this February 13th and 14th in Tallaght, Co. Dublin. This is a great opportunity to visit our stand and try out our latest software.
The CESI National Conference, in association with NCTE, is Ireland's leading conference addressing ICT and learning. It has a long and proud tradition of foregrounding good practice in ICT usage from primary, second level and third level teaching settings as well as engendering critical debate on key issues of interest to practitioners in all areas and levels of the Irish education system.
To find out more information about the conference and to register please visit the CESI National Conference website at: http://www.cesi.ie/conference-2009
Grants worth €2.2 million will help primary schools to purchase hi-tech equipment, writes Fiona Gartland.
The money is targeted at newly built schools or those that completed large extensions in 2008, Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe said yesterday.
The 72 primary schools, including 15 in Dublin and four each in Waterford and Galway, will each get €5,000 a classroom to buy computer hardware, software and digital equipment.
It is the first time an information communication technology (ICT) allowance has been allocated to each classroom at primary level.
Equipment to be purchased will include digital projectors, internet-enabled laptops, classroom computers and visualisers - digital devices that have connections to computers and projectors.
Mr O'Keeffe said the grants would help schools integrate ICT into teaching and learning.
"I'm very conscious of the need to boost schools' ICT capacity and I want to ensure that technology becomes an integral part of the learning process at an early age," he said.
This week is in the USA it is Geography Awareness Week, November 16 - 22, 2008. The purpose of Geography Awareness Week is to promote geographic education in schools and among the public.
Visit the http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/ for further information. You can also play our free online games or download our award-winning geography software.
The My Wonderful World have created a great resource for geography and we recommend you visiting their website and try some of the activities. They include printable wall maps, parent and school guides, top ten tips and much more.
November 4th, 2008 is election day in the United States. To celebrate the election we have created a five page worksheet (0.6 MB) about the United States, perfect for school. If you want to learn more about the United States please consider our awarding winning Know Your USA software.
Page 1: Map of USA with Regions and States marked. Page 2: Map with each State name and the Capital. Page 3: Name the States of the USA pop quiz worksheet. Page 4: Blank Flag of the United States, great for colouring. Page 5: US Election Results worksheet, colour in the winner of each state.
This worksheet is perfect for printing and photocopying. It is a great introduction to the United States and excellent classroom activity for election week.
We also have a free online quiz for testing your knowledge of each State in the United States. Play it online at our website. Remember that each aspect of the USA is covered in detail in our award winning Know Your USA software. Also you can watch the YouTube Animaniacs cartoon clip we posted a few weeks ago too, quick way to introduce the United States to younger children.
To keep up-to-date with the election we recommend the IrishTimes.com or the NYTimes.com for the latest news and results. Some good mapping websites for the election include: electoral-vote.com and politicalmaps.org. Learn more about the candidates Obama and McCain at Wikipedia.
UPDATE: Obama Wins the 2008 US Presidential Election. You can view the results on our blog or at the interactive maps available on-line at Yahoo.com, NYTimes and the IrishTimes.com
The New York Times have developed a great website that allows you to keep track of the results for the 2008 election. Click on the Your Map button and then you can set each state to either Obama or McCain, depending on the winner of each. To set the winner, click on each state and select the color blue or red.
Google has organised a competition for Irish pupils to design a Google homepage design for St. Patrick's Day 2009. To take part in the competition, schools must register by November 7th 2008. Click here to register.
A maximum of six designs can be mailed to Google from each school to Google no later than December 12th 2008. Google recommends that each school holds an internal competition an the six best designs are then sent in.
David Pogue is a technology journalist at the New York Times, this week he has an interesting article on computer basics. Many people will already know this but if you want to create a basic introduction computer class some of his points are very useful and great for beginners.
It could be beneficial to print out the article and stick it to the notice board by the computer or in the computer lab.
Last week the website logainm.ie was launched, the website contains the official translation of over 100,000 Irish placenames including; towns, streets and post offices. An extremely useful resource for checking the correct name and spelling of a placename. The website's homepage also displays Placename of the Week that randomly selects a different placename each week. This is a useful resource that teachers could use each week to learn about a different place in Ireland.
This is similar to my recent post: Animaniacs - 50 States & Capitals, although this is about nations of the world. Not all countries are covered and it is a bit dated. But is a useful way to introduce young children to the geography of the World. You can purchase the Animaniacs box sets from Amazon.com
The United States Presidential Elections are fast approaching, Know Your USA is a great way learn about the USA. A quick way to introduce students to the states and state capitals of the USA is through this Animaniacs cartoon.
This is a blast from the past, originally broadcast 15 years ago in 1993. You can purchase the Animaniacs box sets from Amazon.com
NetBooks are hitting main stream, Dell today released their Inspiron Mini 9 for $399 (€399 / £299 inc taxes). The latest crop have Windows XP included and are very nice laptops, very suitable for schools due to their small size.
But some of the disadvantages include: - Small hard drive capacity at 16GB, yes 16. - Small 8.9" screen at 1024x600. - Battery life is still limited to 3 to 4 hours. - No optical drive. - Only small saving over normal laptops* - Windows XP, not Vista (could be an advantage too).
*Spend an extra 15% and you will get a full sized laptop with 15.1" screen, 160GB hard drive and optical drive.
Are schools interested in EdWare developing a version of our software designed for these mini laptops, currently all our software will work, but at 800x600 screen resolution, not widescreen. Is there demand for this, if so please get in touch.
Interactive Whiteboards are a great way of using technology to aid teaching in the classroom. We highly recommend their use and encourage schools check them out. We have ensured that our software works seamlessly with the latest white board technology.
Our software works great with interactive whiteboards and we have tested each title on all the popular boards: Smart Board, Promethean, 3M and Mimio and works perfectly with each. Our software is ideal for group work using the interactive whiteboard or can be used with our printable worksheets. This enables teachers to discuss lessons through the interactive whiteboard while students complete our worksheets.
We highly recommend using our software with interactive whiteboards for group classroom work as it greatly enhances the learning experience.
There is also a low budget alternative to interactive whiteboards using a Nintendo Wii remote and clever software from Ph.D. student Johnny Chung Lee. This works great with a projector but requires some extra work and of course no technical support.
The New York Times today has very interesting information regarding Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) including before and after satellite imagery which really show the devastating impact of the cyclone.
We recommend using the New York Times article together with Wikipedia to learn more in the classroom.
This is a great website for aiding the teaching of science and biology, ideal for secondary school but could also be useful for primary school. It was compiled by Stanford University and contains a huge collection of images of human anatomy. It is available on a subscription of $50 a year which gives you access to a huge library of images and support information.
Des Bishop has a web site to accompany his television series, In The Name of the Fada, the show airs on Thursday night on RTÉ 1 and you can watch previous shows on the RTÉ website. Des Bishop's website has some light-hearted Irish lessons but a great way for brushing up on your Irish language skills and easy to use.
With laptop computers now available below €500, they make a great option for schools to bring computers into the classroom instead of a computer lab. Ideally schools should purchase laptop trolleys, I am unsure how widely available these are in Ireland but any trolley with a lock should do. I would suggest adding enough sockets for each laptop and place a wireless printer on top for classroom printing. This trolley can then be moved from classroom to classroom.
Dell sells very reasonable and powerful laptops, the Dell Inspiron 1525 start at €479 from Dell.ie including VAT and delivery. The large 15.4" screen will enable two, three or four students to work together comfortably and the large keyboard is easier for kids to use. The only suggestion I would have is to spend an extra €50 for the extra 1GB of memory bringing the total to 2GB, recommend for Windows Vista. Read recent review on SiliconRepublic.com
I suggest Dell as from my own experience they offer a very good laptop solution. PC World or your local dealer should be able to offer similar specification laptops at the €500 price point.
One compact laptop that is getting a lot of attention lately is the Asus Eee PC which is due for release later this year and will retail for about €400 including Windows XP. Due to the small screen (800x480) and small hard drive (8GB) on this laptop I would not recommend it for school use. The small screen is only suitable for one student to use at a time and looking at a 7" or 9" screen over extended periods can strain the eyes. Due to the screen size, low spec and lack of CD/DVD drive some software titles for education may not work correctly either. Indeed our software will need to be updated to work with the small screens, if there is demand I will look into providing a version for the Asus Eee PC.
The collapse this week of a large portion of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctic (South Pole) is believed to be the result of global warming. The chunk of ice is similar in land area to Northern Ireland and broke off on March 25, 2008.
We have included a YouTube video which is two minutes long and includes some great video and an insight into the collapse, we also highly recommend the NewScientist article which includes additional information and also has another very interesting YouTube video from them.
If you want to show the video full screen, which is ideal for use on a digital projector, click on the video and it will bring you to the YouTube website, from there you can click on the button just below the video to make it full screen. EdWare, finding great educational resources for use in the classroom.
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on the 17 March and we have prepared a PDF worksheet all about Ireland. The worksheet is great for learning about Ireland's major cities and counties and perfect for printing to use in the classroom. Download the Ireland PDF Document.
On the 17 February 2008 Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, this is a great time to learn more about the region and the history of Kosovo.
We have just completed our new Kosovo printable worksheet which is now available to download, by clicking the link below. This is great to photocopy for classroom use, or use with an overhead projector with a class. Details of this fact-sheet will be e-mailed to all members of our newsletter.
A very interesting New York Times article regarding the melting of the Arctic sea ice and the unexpected melting that occurred in 2007 compared to previous years. This is an excellent resource to use for school and enables students to learn more about our world and our impact on it.
This month Google have updated the satellite images for Ireland in Google Earth and now more of Ireland then ever is available in high resolution.
Visit Google Earth and download the latest version and don't forget that the latest version of our software now include Google Earth link for each topic, great for exploring.
Today we uploaded our new quick quiz to test your knowledge of the Irish Rugby Squad for the Rugby World Cup 2008 in France. This is a great way to quickly learn the name of each player who plays for Ireland, you can change photo from portrait to action shot by clicking the buttons to the bottom left of the photo. Your time and score are displayed in the bottom right corner so so see how quickly you can complete the quiz correctly.
Play the game here, we hope to upload more games over the next few months.
Interesting news piece on ITV News today regarding the rapidly changing world, which can now be tracked and viewed easily by anyone using Google Earth.
Mick Ashworth of Times Comprehensive Atlas Of The World said: "We can literally see environmental disasters unfolding before our eyes. We have a real fear that in the near future famous geographical features will disappear forever.
Today we have updated our free online puzzle game of Ireland called Counties of Ireland: Jigsaw Puzzle, which can be played online. The update is much quicker to download and play online and also includes a timer so users can try and better their own score.
You can also play our free online Counties of Ireland: Mini Quiz a great way to test your knowledge of Irish counties. Each county is asked and you must select the correct answer, keep track of your score and watch the clock.
Know Your Ireland is our extremely popular software title which incorporates both of these games and much more, try the 15 day free trial today.
Today Google have launched their Google for Educators website. This is a great new resource for teachers and schools and gives easy access to Google's software and on-line content and some great lesson plans too. Their lesson plans are well laid out and easy to follow, great for all age groups. I especially like their new Book Search tool and its great for searching books which are no longer under copyright like all of Shakespeare's volumes.
Here at EdWare we have been busy putting the finishing touches to Know Your World, which is now available. Know Your World is our latest title in our very popular and successful geography series for education. We have added some fantastic new features including Google Earth places (KML) for a 3D view of each feature and direct links to Answers.com for further information on each feature. Go to our website www.edware.ie for further information and pricing.
Setting up a school website is now inexpensive and quick to setup, and it's now even cheaper since Hosting365 offer a free blog host option. A blog is the easiest method of setting up a website that all members of staff can update easily and post photos and events. Updating the site is as easy as writing an email.
So what's the procedure, first go to http://www.hosting365.com/blogpromotion.php and sign up for a free blog hosting, once that is done you'll receive a username and password in your email from Hosting365.
You must now decide if you want a domain name and what you want this to be. A domain name is the name of your website, so if you school is St. Marys BNS you might want www.stmarysbns.com, or something similar or a .ie address. If you want a domain which will also come with a email address you need to got to Register365 and purchase one. .com, .net are about €11 and .ie is more expensive and cost €70.
Once your domain is purchased log into your Hosting365 control panel and add the domain to your package. Support staff of Hosting365 will help you with this if you are experiencing difficulties, you must also install the Blog script and set that up. Hosting365 have guideline for this and will be happy to help.
Once all that is done you will have a WordPress blogging website, which can be easily updated.
The Irish Times reports today that the percentage of children in Ireland who frequently use computers at school is the second-lowest of all industrialised states, according to a new report. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that in 2003 -- the last year for which data is available -- only 24 percent of 15-year-olds in Ireland frequently used computers at school. ENN.
This is a worrying report for the Irish educational system and the hope for Ireland to move to a knowledge economy. The lack of technology funding to schools by the government is largely to blame. It's been three years since money was made available to schools to purchase equipment. The recent broadband for schools investment was very welcome but many school computers are now over four years old so their use on broadband is limited. I hope that there will be a large injection of cash into technology for schools and most importantly training for teachers so they can get the most from technology.
This week is of course Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Week) here in Ireland. I've noticed a lack of media coverage of Seachtain na Gaeilge this year, but now that the 2006 Oscars are over maybe it'll kick-in.
As current users already know our two flagship products which are developed here in Ireland include both English and Irish versions, Know Your Ireland & Know Your Europe. This week is a very good oppertunity for schools who normally only use the English version to introduce the Irish version to their students. The Irish versions are installed as default and can be accessed via the start menu, Irish worksheets are also included.
I also want to inform Irish schools that there is an Irish version of Windows XP and Microsoft Office available from Microsoft Ireland. Further details are available from Microsoft's website http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/
There is loads of free software available which are ideal for school and home use. Over the coming months I will introduce many of these titles to you. The first I must recommend is Picasa, which is part of the Google company and most importantly is free.
Picasa is the ideal companion to your digital camera, it allows you to easily import your photos and it will than place them in a virtual photo album where you can edit them. This lets you remove red eye, crop, rotate, brighten and apply special effects. Printing, emailing or uploading your photos to a school blog or website is also very easy.
Picasa is a small download and easy to install, just go to www.picasa.com and click Free Download.
