Welcome
This is a quick route to the latest work and news posted on this site.
Geoff Dellow has now provided video tutorials, that support his teaching over the phone. He is extending his teaching and support of Flash 4 as an exciting way of getting children and students involved with creativity and learning of all kinds
An example of a web site designed with flash using many of the templates offered on this site:
Advantages over HTML:
1.The visitor is immediately greeted with a message - no waiting even with a low connection speed.
2. Attention is maintained with a low memory animation while a picture downloads with sound accompaniment.
3. With this site a lot of material is downloaded in the background whille visitors brouse the first few pages ensuring that there are no delays as more and more of the site is explored.
4. A sense of fun is maintained by the insertion of animations as well as images supplementing the material on certain pages.
Year 7 create some more animations loosely based on the Three Witches of Macbeth.
Year 5 use Talking Heads to Explore a Planet by questioning an alien which they design using a new template.
Year 3 sent Christmas Greetings all over the world by email.
The use of Flash MX to edit film from digital video cameras
Year 6 at Newbury Park have just completed a new project, designing a children's story book in Flash complete with electronic pop-up buttons to enhance the dialogue.
Year 7 at Oaks Park have been highly motivated by designing witches, sending and receiving files by email attachment and recording and incorporating their own sound.
Macromedia have just announced a new package for Flash (and other) software that is particularly attractive to Primary Schools
Year 4 (8/9 year olds) have just completed their story projects in Flash involving writing text, drawings, animations and page layouts.
A review of Flash templates that are regularly used in the classroom with young children and a second set of ten are also available
Here are some ideas for Computer Club Projects taken from what we do in our Year 5 (age 9/10) Club.
A very successful project on the subject of Healthy Living by all of the Year 5 students resulting in a Talking Heads presentation.
Our work with Flash is featured in the BECTa site - www.ictadvice.org.uk in the section "inspire me". Though this is listed under secondary curriculum our work on fire with year 4 in a primary school is described. This work has now been supplemented with a project using a talking heads template where several different topics are covered - religion , World War Two described below and just being completed - Healthy Eating.
We've just completed a history project with the whole of Year 6 involving 90 children, working in groups of 5 or 6. This involved creating animations, talking heads and presenting information gathered from the Internet on the subject of the Second World War.
A new project using shape tweening based on the Ceebeebees of CBBC television
Creativity developed using the walk file with year 7 & 8
A Design Technology project based on Mechanisms
Year 6 - information about various countries
Year 7 Present information and a Quiz on Plants - from their Science Curriculum.
Year 5 computer club explore scenes from Harry Potter using Flash.
Year 4 develop their Creative Writing with drawings and animations.
A very successful project on World Religions was finished with Year 5 using the Talking Heads template.
We show how we teach Flash to Years 2 to 8 using a series of templates that enable all abilities to succeed
Here, described in detail, is the lesson I use when introducing Flash to students (of all ages!) for the first time! The template that is started from is included!
Animated proof of Pythagoras
Picture
Puzzle ! (November
21st 2001) - from a template that can be used with any picture !
Try this !
and
some further ideas for puzzles
Latest project with Year 6 - History surrounding World War Two using the talking heads below and much more!
Following
on from the popularity of the walking template that students love to take over
to create their own figures, this
new template has been created:-
Dialogue can be added
to create two conversing characters which
seems to appeal to students.
The students section has had an overhaul, making it easier to find work of different levels ! ? !
October 1st - Spanish translation by native speakers following an attempt on July 31st to explain our work in French, Italian and German using computer generated translations.
London Grid for Learning show interest in sharing Flash training
West Midland Regional Broadband Consortium receive Flash training at three locations
New work - July 24th - using animated gifs in Flash in preparation for a joint project with students in the USA - year 7 with 11-13 year olds
A "master class" in Flash - on July 12th for Gifted and Talented students to extend their Problem Solving and Creative skills at Oxford Brookes University was voted "Best Master Class of the Year"
Buckinghamshire are to pilot thorough training in Flash for three pairs of their schools (primary and secondary) in the Autumn term. They have a very progressive approach to ICT.
A seminar on Flash was presented at the Design Technology (DATA) Conference on July 5th which was very well received with special comment from Ray Peacock O.B.E. (former Chair of DATA and now at SETNET) who urged me to extend the work through the Government scheme to be launched in early September whereby "experts" support schools in their area. The talk was based on one presented earlier to Redbridge LEA.
Prof Stephen Heppell, chair of the DfEE Standards Taskforce working party on ICT, said a couple of months ago : -
"I'm
excited about the way this software gives children real control over their computers
and lets them make things rather than consume things"
His views and the views of many others are given in this overview of the work in Schools with Flash over the year 2000/1.
Work in Redbridge LEA in over 15 schools last year is summarised
Links to other work done by students using Flash 4
Note; two CDs are available for purchase:-
The first teaches the vary basics of Flash 4 with guidance on teaching Flash in the classroom. How to obtain this and its contents are described here.
The second is a series of templates created with Flash 4 (which can also be used with Flash 5 or Flash MX) and comes with a licence to use the templates in a specified school or college.