Welcome Back

ITSI would just like to welcome back all staff and educators as well as extend a warm welcome to all the new schools that have joined the ITSI family.

Core Talk

For many schools communication with parents is mainly limited to weekly or monthly newsletters and occasional teacher-parent conferences. Therefore most schools often have a one-way communication system that leaves little room for feedback from parents and if feedback is given it is often done in a laborious way. ITSI has recently introduced Core Talk to its product list to assist schools in stream lining their communication by means of an integrated SMS solution that allows for feedback via SMS as well.

There are currently many products on the market that offer companies an SMS solution to communication. However with Core Talk you will be given various added benefits that many of these solutions do not have. With Core Talk you will receive a standard SMS number to which parents or students can SMS which is the same as a standard cell phone number.

Core Talk offers you the following services:

Create a customizable database
Customers, suppliers and staff can be captured manually or imported
A Communication Process Manager which simplifies and centralizes all the various SMS communication formats

Core Talk is already used in over 230 schools in South Africa it is most often used for debt collecting, extra-curricular co-ordination, notification to parents/staff/ governing bodies regarding homework, exams, meeting, sporting events etc. it can also be used to report absenteeism and behavioural or conduct advice to parents.

For more information about Core Talk please arrange an appointment with your sales representative or contact IT Schools at info@itschools.co.za

yTeach Resources approved by GDE

Last year IT Schools submitted the Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry yTeach resources to the GAuteng Department of Education. Since then the Physics and Chemistry resources have been accredited by the GDE and the Mathematical resources are currently in the process of being accredited. Therefore schools can now make use of the funds allocated for learning support material for the interactive yTeach resources.

yTeach Playlists

In the last couple of issues of InConTact we have been reviewing various resources from yTeach. The focus however this month is on the various tools available with yTeach to you as an educator.

A large portion of an educators available time is spent on preparing lessons for students. Ensuring that all the material, handouts and information required is prepared and available.

With yTeach there is a tool available to create a playlist for the topic of your choice. In the image on the right a playlist was created for The Heart.

The playlist enables you to create presentations for your class using the interactive yTeach resources as well as your own files such as PowerPoint presentations and weblinks. Each playlist can be edited separately and there are optional details that can be added such student and educator actions to be completed for more effective use of the resources.

Each Playlist can be be published and made available for other teachers and can also be printed and exported as a PDF and to your school's VLE.

Visit www.yteach.co.za to preview the thousands of resources that could enhance your students' learning experiences or email info@yteach.co.za to arrange for a sales representative to do a presentation.

C4K curriculum approved by GDE

The Gauteng Department of Education has approved the Computers 4 Kids curriculum for language literacy. This is wonderful news for schools as the allocation for learning support materials can now be used to purchase your school's ICT curriculum.

Just a reminder that Computers 4 Kids also has an Open Source Curriculum which makes use of Open Office and has been the accepted curriculum used in TuxLabs across South Africa. A demonstration is available on the C4K website.

C4K e-Learner Assessments

There is an astounding 4500 learners registered to receive e-Learner certificates. Please take note that any new e-Learner registrations now cost R60.00. The e-Learner assessment now comprises of four separate assessments for Grade 4 and seven separate assessments for Grade 7. Learners are required to pass all the modules with at least 70% each to receive the e-Learner certificate. There are downloadable instructions available for the new form of assessments at http://www.e-learner.mobi/docs/elearner_assessment_instructions.zip

Please also take note that the final date for assessments this year will be the 1st of November to ensure that the ECDL has ample time to print all the certificate. Learners will also now be asked to check their details before they are able to complete the assessments. Please ensure that all your learners' details are correct as a reprint of a certificate will be charged at R50.00 per certificate.

The winner of the Mercer laptop, which was the prize of the Computers 4 Kids/ Facebook competition, was Henriette from Grens Prep/ Nahoon Primary. Congratulations to Henriette. You can still join the C4K Facebook group the link is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=24041556302

Twitter

Twitter, like Facebook, is a social networking tool. One of the larger social networking tools available on the Internet with approximately 75 million users. In July last year the growth rate of Twitter peaked at an astonishing 7.8 million users per month.; however this rate is slowing down and many Twitter users currently registered are inactive. The number currently is approximately 6.2 million new users registering per month.

The idea for the creation of Twitter came from Jake Dorsey who wanted a simple way in which to know what all his friends were up to. The first protoype was built in two weeks in March 2006 and was officially launched in August 2006. Initially it was funded by Obvious a company in San Francisco however in May 2007 it was decided to move outside Obvious and Twitter Incorporated was founded.

Twitter enables its users to create Tweets (short messages, much like status updates on Facebook) which will be available for the people that follow the user to see. Twitter has become popular among many "everyday" individuals but also with numerous celebrities. On January 19, 2010, almost four years from the official launch date of Twitter; millionaire and Microsoft creator Bill Gates created an account. In five hours of the accounts creation Bill Gates had approximately 43 thousand followers.

On the day that Bill Gates joined Twitter the system crashed an many Twitter users were left frustrated as they could not access their accounts. The Twitter crash made headline news in South Africa and although it was never confirmed by Twitter Incorporated many people have attributed the crash to Bill Gates and the overwhelming response to his new account. Twitter recovered quickly and since then Bill Gates followers increased to an astonishing 300 thousand people.

For ideas on how to incorporate Twitter into your teaching and classroom environment visit: http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/