ICT TOOLS Deriving value from ICT

This document was created in Beacon.by (Tool 2) Tool appraisal frameworks Table of Contents

This introduction is slightly larger than the main body text to help catch the reader's attention.

The SAMR model 1. Top 10 ICT tools

2. Tool 1 - Zapworks Studio

3. Tool 2 - Beacon.by

4. Tool 3 - 3D printing and lasercutting

5. Tool 4 - Camtasia

6. Tool 5 - Lumen5

7. Tool 6 - Trinket.io The TPACK model 8. Tool 7 - Edison Robot

9. Tool 8 - TinkerCAD

10. Tool 9 - Senstone

11. Tool 10 - FOCI

12. A few other considerations

The TIM model Preamble

This is not a list of the top ten tools that might suit every teacher. This is a list of the top ten tools that will make a difference in my teaching. As such there will be items included here that might not suit everyone. I am not good at coding nd to be perfectly honest I do not enjoy coding. What I enjoy are the results of coding. When I can find someone else's code and use parts of it as boilerplate my satisfaction level is high. Where do I use code and where do I look for code? I use code in a lot of places that you might not expect: on websites, when designing in Tinkercad and when creating graphs in Trinket. I use code to program robot behaviours. Related to coding is the creation of macros. Macros are very much under-rated and being able to review macros and create macros is a skill that many teachers stand to benefit from. In particular I routinely use macros in mining (CAD) and I use macros in Adobe Creative Suite. This begs the question: are macros and code ICT tools? I would argue that they are. They serve as instructions between layers of computing abstraction. We can take the surface layer - the and record or adapt what we see based on a set of rules. The computer can then be told to repeat the process on batches of or data while we sleep or get coffee. The next question is whether or not we should consider tools in isolation. Tools work better in stacks, clusters and suites. Complex and powerful workflows can be built by leveraging more than one tool together. Think of it this way: you are in a workshop cutting a plank of wood. You could hold the wood with one hand and the saw in the other or you could fix the plank to the bench with a vice and use both hands to guide the saw. The second solution is more likely to produce a delightful result. ICT tool use is the same: this report is being produced in beacon.by while the graphics are being created in Adobe Creative Suite, with an EOS digital camera that is mounted on a focus-stacking focusing rail. The image results are passed through Helicon Focus before being manipulated in Photoshop. No one tool or vendor performs all of these functions.

What is wrong with simplicity?

Chalk does not require a power-supply. Chalk is often legible and it comes in a range of colours. It is cheap. It just works. By contrast when I set my smartboard camera up to record a session on my whiteboard there are many settings that need to be just so before I can begin. Kaptivo is a wonderful tool because it allows me to broadcast what I am writing on my board to anyone with access to a browser and a high-speed connection and to some degree it fosters collaboration, particularly when it is used in conjunction with Skype. Still, there is the rub: the modem needs to be working, the client modem needs to be working, the Kaptivo needs to be paired with the router, the Skype session needs to be loud and clear, the laptop driving the whole session should be working efficiently without any other programs drawing on the computing power. There are a lot of places where the technology can go wrong.

A Substitute for Quality?

When we use ICT tools are we applying spit and polish to unworthy content? Is the use of the ICT tool a way of distracting students, supervisors and ourselves from the nagging doubts we share about why we are in class in the first place? Teachers are a lot of things but they are not ICT professionals first and they are not entertainers first. Some teachers try to juggle ICT while showing their frustration and the audience begins to question what else the teacher is struggling with.

Choosing the Right Tool for the Audience

Students are often "treated" to TED talks, Youtubes and other movie-like content. When we consider Marshal Macluhan's mantra that the medium is the message are we not actually telling children that they should sit back, switch off and take in some entertainment? We think that the Crash Course provides a subject matter introduction that we could not possibly hope to beat, but do we consider that we should develop our own ability to be interesting and be truly present to our students instead of passing off the task of instruction to a recording?

The French Army Knife

Some ICT tools are prohibitively expensive and yet we like the features that they offer. When we see a product that looks similar at a much discounted price we jump at the chance to use that tool. The result is choices like Weebly.com for website creation. Weebly is deeply flawed; it is the website building tool equivalent of a French Army Knife where various corkscrews are provided for wine varieties. The danger of using such tools is that they may limit our expectations of what is possible and worse still, they may limit our students’ expectations of what is possible. https://webflow.com/ is an example of a website-creation tool that pushes boundaries. The code that is created is clean. The tools encourage creativity, they don’t stifle it. https://www.webydo.com/ is another tool that offers something novel – complete control over how a page will look – to the level.

We hear all kinds of promises when it comes to ICT in Education. The sales materials for edu-tech promise savings in materials, flexibility in content delivery, robust design and build – and such claims may feature grains of truth. Our pupils take part in a world that values how to think, how to focus, and how to navigate social interactions. Part of our duty in choosing ICT tools is the assess the degree to which such tools add and subtract from such goals. Teaching and learning is hard work – and this work is not always made simpler by the introduction of ICT. Teachers should seek to remove technologies that are harmful to educational goals. What works? Chalk works. When did we decide that we should not “Keep It Simple”? Technologies promise a simpler path but as we introduce them we must ask if they recede into the background or if they merely make life more complicated for teachers and for students. I firmly believe that we are about to see a dramatic change in how content is delivered in classrooms. XR will be the next big thing because it will help teachers to create student-centred learning that focuses on skills. We need to think about what comes naturally to students without all of the hogwash that goes along with “digital natives”. What is becoming clear is that students are craving face-to-face interaction even while their faces are glued to mobile phone screens. Social skills are being lost and as teachers we must help students to rediscover them. If we can find technology that supports this goal then fine, but that is a tough ask. Screen time comes at the expense of social interaction so we should consider what ICT we have at our disposal that does not interfere with face-to-face activities.

Resource Guide This guide performs a variety of functions including hinting at steps and strategies for teachers and students to implement - as well as a list of things they can buy or subscribe to for free.

Some Tools are "Givens"

We have deliberately not included MS OneNote, MS Word, MS Excel, Docs, or Adobe Creative Suite as the author feels that familiarity with these tools are a given in any well-developed educational environment.

Some tools are out of reach

We have been experimenting with VIVE, and Aryzon however it is not reasonable to expect that students or schools, for that matter, will be able to afford anything beyond . Google Daydream WorldSense may effect a change in the education landscape, however, as it promises to make external-sensor-free XR affordable.

Some tools require high levels of supervision

We love Littlebits and tools like it however where such tools are used in the classroom care must be taken to ensure that all assets are returned to the teacher at the end of class and in good working order. Advances in machine learning image analysis may soon make such a librarianship task simpler and quicker.

Batteries not included

Some tools, such as Vex Robotics and Edison Robots require batteries. Supplying rechargeable batteries is the only environmentally responsible approach however care must be taken that batteries are kept charged and that batteries do not "go missing". Tool 1 - Zapworks Studio

Studio is the more complicated of the two authoring tools that Zapworks offers. In Studio you can create rich AR experiences once you have got your head around the logic behind the design tools. There is a steep learning curve.

There are many AR, VR, MR and XR development tools on the market. This situation is ripe for product consolidation. The danger, then, of investing lots of time into any given tool is that the company might be bought out and closed soon. Sadly, self-hosted solutions are expensive and few and far between. Aurasma was bought out by HP and it will soon be closed. For the moment Zapworks seems to have some independence and some life in it. For my test run I took a model that I had created in a CAD program and I loaded that model into Sketchfab for processing. Sketchfab talks to Zapworks Studio well although it is clear that images to drape over the model also need to be created somewhere (yet to be determined). The model I loaded into the AR project was jet black and appeared featureless. A texture-map would help to provide definition here. related: Storyfab video , focus stacking 3D object creation Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 1 Appraisal From the diagrams on the right we can see where the emphasis of this tool'stransformative potential lies. Specifically, the tool redefines how material is presented to classrooms, it pushes the boundaries of PCK, TPACK and TPK and it does well on all five The SAMR model dimensions of the TIM model. With all of these benefits we might wonder why it is not used more widely in classrooms. The short answer is a lack of training. Put bluntly, instead of asking teachers to populate templates with nonsense in preparatory education ICT classes the goal should be to help teachers ramp up their skills with tools such as Zapworks Studio. Pre-service teachers can quickly teach themselves how to use Canva but to use Zapworks well in a The TPACK model short period of time demands some guidance. With Zapworks the teacher is able to adapt and tailor instructional material to students' prior knowledge while staying ahead of the curve in terms of fluency in information technology however in order to achieve a good fit the teacher needs to undertake a week of self-directed PD in order to achieve an adequate degree of mastery in the platform and the assumption here is that the teacher already has a grounding in digital content creation and some exposure to CAD and 3D animation.

The TIM model Tool 2 - Beacon.by

The online document editor market is a crowded one. While some products, like Canva invest time in providing design direction, and offers simplicity, Beacon sets itself apart with how easy it is to create reliably attractive results.

The themes (designs) on the Beacon app are well thought out and the interface is uncluttered - leading to a very satisfying user experience. This product does not have a free version that provides access to all of the templates, and that might present a problem for full classroom implementation however the free version is a solid application. Designed as a "Lead Magnet" generator, Beacon is not purpose- built for education. The Beacon tools include document open data- gathering and CMS integration - features that many students and teachers are not likely to want to leverage. The biggest benefit of using Beacon with students is that it introduces them to a tool that is not cluttered with distractions and that means that documents will be created faster and with less fuss. Beacon guides users in creating resource guides, checklists, worksheets and fact sheets. This tool will not revolutionize learning however it will simplify document creation for the classroom and in the classroom. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 2 Appraisal

SAMR Category Student and teacher focus is narrowed for more elegant results

The SAMR model TPACK Reflection Great tool for curating and creating content for projects and lesson documents

Overview Creating documents online is a double- edged sword. While the application (software) is updated and maintained by the provider there is danger that the service can be discontinued without The TPACK model notice, that the connection to the web can compromise productivity and that the IT department at the school hampers implementation. On the plus side beacon provides an uncluttered interface, wonderfully designed templates, pdf creation tools that surpass Adobe's content creation tools in terms of ease of use, pdfs that adapt to the device they are being read on (responsive to media), data collection tools arising from readership data, and publishing tools to pull new data from websites. While this app was created for business it has good implementation potential in schools. The TIM model Tool 3 - 3D printing & Lasercutting

The files shown here were created using Tinkercad and printed on a Wanhao Duplicator i3 mini. The detail achieved on a $300 3D printer is simply extraordinary and goes far beyond what could be created using any other readily available workshop method.

Precision lasercutting is fast catching up in terms of affordability. Shown below is my workshop's $600 A4-sized lasercutter. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 3 Appraisal

SAMR Category Desktop manufacturing has moved beyond the trough of disillusionment on Gartner's hype cycle to become a set of technologies that redefine work The SAMR model and promise to redefine how we learn and how we teach.

TPACK Reflection What is new with desktop manufacturing is the emphasis on rapid iteration (TK), the transformation of the subject matter being taught (design, maths, science, engineering, fine art) (PCK) and the potential for deeply skilled teaching that The TPACK model leverages technology (TPACK).

Overview Immediate and scheduled printing and cutting of designs in a classroom environment provide new opportunities to create resources on demand, to provide tangible models for exploration, to demonstrate real-world solutions to problems and to prepare students for work and lifestyles that require rapid adaptation. As the costs of printers and cutting tools plummet barriers to implementation become more a question of will rather than want.

The TIM model Tool 4 - Camtasia

Language learning speeding up youtubes kaptivo technique direct instructional video proof of work created by author billing accountability

The proof is in the pudding. All of the links above are to videos created with Camtasia. The range of content shown demonstrates the power of the platform to create teaching and learning material on the fly. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 4 Appraisal SAMR Category Camtasia augments teaching, learning and record keeping in easily defined ways: instruction can be provided once and viewed again and again on demand The SAMR model students can collaborate on learning materials by combining files to produce audio and video results the software is not dependant on a connection to the web

TPACK Reflection processes and practice are facilitated and augmented evaluation and understanding are more easily attained by providing The TPACK model material that better meets the pace of individual learners

Overview Camtasia is in the Goldilocks Zone of screen recording software, that is, while it is not free it represents good value for money at an affordable price, it offers powerful tools that are easy for new users to grasp and it has become a popular tool in industry, meaning that students who use Camtasia gain a real- world advantage. The program is flexible and can be easily used by both students and teachers to improve their performance. The TIM model Tool 5 - Lumen5

Death by PowerPoint is a real phenomenon; not literal death, but the death of engagement. Death by Prezi is also very likely. When students disconnect from a presentation not only does their learning suffer but their interest in the subject may be compromised.

Wave.video created by author Wave video website Lumen5 video created by author Lumen 5 website record of creating a video in Lumen5 creating royalty-free music using AI

As with Beacon the results that come out of Lumen5 are shaped (designed) with care. Instead of the clip-art driven poor-taste free- for-all that is Microsoft's productivity suite the "slides" created in Lumen5 demonstrate presentation best-practice. Included in the process is an understated machine-learning function that guides the content creator towards visuals that suit the subject matter being discussed. As with Beacon there is a free tier so students can benefit from a well designed tool that limits time-wasting distractions. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 5 Appraisal

SAMR Category Lumen5 removes many of the distractions that students face when they are asked to create multimedia presentations. Not merely a substitute The SAMR model for PowerPoint like Keynote, Visme or Prezi, Lumen5 produces videos based on the 'slide deck' however it priced at a more 'reasonable' rate to similar tools (InVideo and Wave.Video ).

TPACK Reflection This tool supports learning and does not distract from it by trying to do too much.

Summary of Observations The TPACK model The video creation and slide-deck space is very crowded. Great apps such as Projeqt, close every month as they fail to gain adequate traction regardless of what they offer. Lumen5 deliberately left out features in order to narrow its focus. This has meant that the tool has thrived while more feature-rich tools have not survived. While the lack of features might hurt the software's scores in the TIM model there is no question that time-poor professionals look for tools like Lumen5 to get work done the set time budget.

The TIM model Tool 6 - Trinket.io

Trinket.io allows you to write and run code on any browser on any device. As a result it frees code from the normal confines of editors, compilers and makes it a tool that both students and teachers can use to explore data, numerical relationships and functions.

With sufficient training trinket.io can make an enormous difference to students' understanding of how mathematical functions work, whether they fit a data set students have provided and whether their findings agree with code provided by others. Code can be easily remixed and explored once the basics of coding is understood. This application is used by publishing houses to build and embed data and functions into web pages. Unlike competing programs such as tableau the free version of trinket.io has many worthwhile features. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 6 Appraisal SAMR Category If you can teach your students how to read and understand code enough to be able to modify it then Trinket.io is vital. How vital? No question about it vital - for those students maths and physics in year 11 and 12. Provided students can The SAMR model get their heads around the rules of coding in a language like python. The platform offers courses to get learners up to speed. Teachers can embed their calculations and graphs into web-pages easily.

TPACK Reflection There are few excuses for science or maths teachers not being able to do simple coding; it should be part of every The TPACK model 'hard' science teacher's toolkit. Leveraging this skill enables teachers and students to manipulate data and formulae in new ways and to make connections between different ideas.

Overview To look at a project that I created go to this link , clone and play with the python code and see how changing variables modifies the graph. Just as with the other tools in this list that score very highly there is learning required by the teacher. There is no such thing as a free lunch! The TIM model Tool 7 - Edison Robot

Shown in the image above is a line-following map of the human circulatory system. Attach a blood cell to the 'back' of an Edison robot, load the line following program and let the robot follow the path around the body.

The expansion pack also shown in the image above allows two Edison robots to be combined to create more complex robotic creations - taking the range of possible uses into a much broader STEM repertoire. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 7 Appraisal SAMR Category This kit has grabbed the attention of every learner I have shown it to.

TPACK Reflection The SAMR model Easy tech to sue for exploring different ways to arrive at the same task.

Overview The Edison robot is a less expensive alternative to the landmark Thymio robot. The Edison system, like Thymio, encourages students to collaborate, explore and share their discoveries in robotics. Concurrent programming (breaking programs into processes allowing two systems to The TPACK model interact with each other) is straight forward with Thymio and not possible with the Edison. So why settle for the Edison? Thymio sells for six times the price of an Edison.

Now, just because the Edison is a robot does not mean that it cannot be used to engage learners in disciplines other than robotics. I've used it to leach primary school children about the solar system and to teach secondary students about the circulatory system. How? I drew a line and asked Edison to follow it; simple really. The TIM model Tool 8 - TinkerCAD

TinkerCAD looks simple on the surface. The company behind it, Autodesk, has hidden plenty of clever features under the bonnet, including access to JavaScript coding as a 3D-modelling tool. evidence of use of TinkerCAD

TinkerCAD is often overlooked, either because teachers feel that it is too simple or teachers feel that it is too complicated. Those in the first camp have probably not looked at the coding features and those in the second are, most likely, frightened by ICT generally. TinkerCAD is browser-based so there are some limitations on how complex files can be, however, for most primary and secondary- school settings such restrictions ought not to restrict the desired learning outcomes. Fundamentally, TinkerCAD is transformative because it enables the kind of hands-on design learning that James Dyson, the founder of Dyson and the Dyson School at Imperial College London, describes.

By cultivating the seeds of curiosity and creativity now we are in vesting in a world full of potential James Dyson Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 8 Appraisal SAMR Category Most people think that working in CAD is difficult either based on what they have done previously or what they have seen others do. TinkerCAD has redefined not only what we should expect from entry- level CAD but it has made CAD The SAMR model accessible to students of all ages, inviting them to tinker away and improve their results in an iterative fashion.

TPACK Reflection Short ramp-up times hide the fact that you can do some very powerful things when you open the programming interface. This tool can not only help students and teachers with beginning concepts but it can take them a long way The TPACK model towards an understanding of industrial CAD.

Overview Whenever I want to print something on a 3D printer I've used TinkerCAD to create or modify CAD files. It is easy, fast and powerful. The learning is open-ended and it can interact seamlessly with teaching objectives from a number of disciplines.

The TIM model Tool 9 - Senstone

As you can see from the image above the device 'talks' with the application on the mobile phone, converting spoken word to transcriptions that can then be re-rerouted into reports and .

Over the two months that I have been testing this device I have come to rely on it more and more, and I anticipate that it will become an essential part of my every day carry, as a student, as a business owner and as a pre-service teacher. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 9 Appraisal SAMR Category Use of ICT in data collection is featured in the Australian Curriculum. The Senstone provides an easy way to bring hands-free data recording to a classroom environment by allowing students to dictate their observations to The SAMR model a machine-learning transcription service.

TPACK Reflection With Senstone, students will leverage a business productivity tool to explore how technology is changing workflows.

Overview Senstone will not give you a washboard stomach the moment you put it on but it The TPACK model may well change your life regardless. With Senstone clipped to your lapel you no longer have to carry around a notebook to record observations or add items to a grocery list. In the workplace Senstone helps people to record observations without using their hands. In one sense, Senstone is a perfect companion device to Alexa, or Google- -enabled devices as it complements the service provided by virtual assistants. Students can use Senstone to record their thoughts and observations with very little effort.

The TIM model Tool 10 - Foci

The device is worn on the belt line against the skin. As you breathe the breathing quality, duration and rhythm is analysed by the application.

As the device's sensitivity and machine learning adapts to your particular patterns the results become more and more reliable. I would imagine that together with sensitive heart rate monitoring recording of sentiment moment to moment will become possible - bringing both students and teachers the opportunity to reflect on how they are coping, learning and developing. While it is possible that the Foci is not perfect (I've been using it for a week so far - not a very long period of time to test wearable monitors) the designers have created a device with great promise. Tool appraisal frameworks Tool 10 Appraisal SAMR Category We can drug children to help them focus. We can remind children to focus to help them focus. We can 'chunk' tasks so that easily distracted children are kept in the thrall of a lesson. We can do all of this or we can help students to train their brains The SAMR model to stay on task. This is what Foci aims to do, using visual feedback of a student's state of mind based on very sensitive measurement of their breathing pattern, in real time.

TPACK Reflection Students cannot learn effectively unless they are able to focus. We must use an open mind to establish how new technology can be applied to learning. The TPACK model While biofeedback is not new, the Foci tool is discrete and surprisingly accurate. Not only could this tool have therapeutic use but it could be used by children who do well to help them to do better.

Overview When there is a tension between goals it is vital that we strive for calm and focus. Focus can be a learned behaviour reinforced, in this case, by a small sensor and an application that provides results that are very easy to interpret.

The TIM model A few other considerations

ICT is such a broad field that knowing what to include and what to leave out is very difficult. Having said that there are some features of ICT use that are often ignored, at our collective peril.

The cost of free and the hidden cost of poor design Using multiple fonts on a single page (as we see on the ICTFreo site where Pacifico, Futura, Oxygen, and are all featured together) is a design faux-pas. In this case the tool (Weebly) has not, in my view, done an adequate job of guiding the user. This is not merely a matter of taste (Vernon Adams, the designer of Pacifico, tried to create a font that is feminine, elegant, friendly, intriguing, and creative . Sadly Pacifico is none of these things). Furthermore, while there are some reasonable 'knock-off' typefaces, such as the knock-off of the Hoffler-and-Frere-Jones Gotham named Montserrat, there are no suitable knock-offs for facebook's Klavika http://klavika.com/. Sometimes when you want to use a quality product there is no getting around paying of it.

The hidden cost of using ICT tools ICT use is mandated by the curriculum now and while this is a well-meaning goal the effect of enforcing it might be counter-productive. If we confuse familiarity with ICT with student readiness for future jobs we are doubly deceived. What children need most is not touch-typing skill (as was promoted in the '80s), or coding skill (as was promoted in the '90s), familiarity with social media (as has been promoted in the '00s), or data logging (as is now being promoted in the '10s) we do so at the expense of many other worthy goals of education, such as the ability to be creative, the ability to focus, the ability to work collaboratively. ICT use promotes none of these vital qualities. Suggesting otherwise is, at best, disingenuous.

The hidden cost of ICT inequality and deep-seated resistance to ICT Access to both online and offline ICT tools is not evenly distributed. To address this issue the state sent boxes of ICT tools to schools WA-wide. Few of these tools have been taken out of their boxes four years hence. Why? Teachers have little to no ICT PD, they (often correctly) view ICT tools as toys, not educational equipment and the deep understanding of ICT required to make these tools work in teaching is clearly absent.