eLearning4schools.net

In my last post I talked about the latest in using Music for learning.

However, I felt it also important to highlight the usefulness of music in creating a safe and calm environment for learners to learn. It is vital that students are emotionally ready for them to start learning and if they are not then there is actually no point in attempting to get started as they will not be receptive to learning. We can get into why another time…..

…But for now it is important to understand that rituals can play an important role to prepare learners to learn and one thing that can get the brain into learning mode as one of these rituals is music.

It does not necessarily need to be any particular type of music although some genres may be inappropriate but will leave that for you to decide. I would stick to a handful of tracks throughout so a half term so the music starts to form part of a ritual.

To finish on I’d like to leave with you a website where you can select the music you want to listen to depending on your mood or that mood you may want to provoke in your students. Anyway dead easy to use take a look the site is Musicovery.com

Truetube provides a safe, pre-moderated platform for 12-25 year olds to use the internet and advances in streaming video technology, to encourage them to think, discuss and engage with moral and ethical issues that matter for this generation, inspiring them to become involved in changing the world that we all inhabit for the better.

Truetube kick-starts each new topic for debate by providing a wealth of short films, information and statistics which offer a range of polarised views on the same issue and are deliberately chosen to start a debate, inspire involvement and promote further research. It also enables users to make and upload their own films and comments made in response to what they have viewed.

For more information see About Truetube

Even better for us teachers is that they have ready made resources and how to get the best out of Truetube for a number of subject areas including English, Citizenship, Religious Education and Geography.

This is a great site to provoke discussion and act as a focus for an activity where an end product can be produced.

LibriVox

LibriVox provides free audio books and files of literary classics which are in the public domain.

Rather than famous actors lending their vocal talents to the readings, the audio books here are read out by volunteers.

All of the audio books are literary classics and are out of copyright so they can be downloaded and listened to free of charge.

You will not find any Dan Brown or John Grisham but classics like Jane Austen’s Emma and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are all here.

At present there are nearly 650 audio titles to choose from.

Selecting Listen on the homepage leads to the catalogue. Titles can be searched by author or title or you can simply browse through the whole catalogue.

Once a title has been selected, there is a brief description of the work along with links to further information about the author. Scrolling down the page reveals the file format available for download; right click to save to your hard drive and you are away.

The list of titles is not as long as I would like, but it is growing all the time and the quality of the recordings is generally very good.

The human body is an amazing piece of architecture. Man has been studying anatomy since at least 1600BC, when the ancient Egyptians first began to map the way our bodies work.

Whether you are studying anatomy, cramming for an exam, or just have a curiosity to find out more about what makes you tick, WinkingSkull is an amazing website.

Navigate through each region of the body by clicking the links in the navigation panel on the left. Every part of the body is covered, literally from head to toe, and beautifully illustrated with interactive diagrams that peel away the layers of our anatomy for all to see. You can click the labels on and off so you know exactly what you are looking at.

If you register, which is free, you can even use the site’s extensive self-testing exercises, which ask you to place the labels on the diagrams in an allotted amount of time. Skilled labellers could rank among the website’s most brainy users. Take a look at WinkingSkull.com and have a play around.