graham.davidson » Personal

Websense (continued)

Graham Davidson — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:26:22 +0000

Came back from holidays. Tried to access the internet but Websense won’t allow it.

Ach well, back to IGear again!

Websense

Graham Davidson — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:19:10 +0000

We are currently “trialling” the new IGear – something called “Websense”. Apparently this is much better than the old IGear. My story so far:

Computer switched to Websense late on Friday afternoon.

Monday: tried to access internet – Every site is blocked by Websense. (and I do mean “every” site) Reported to technician. No faults found – settings the same as every other computer in the school. Even he can’t access internet. Reported to higher authorities. Solution – leave it for some time and try later????????

Tuesday – still can’t access internet, so have now returned to IGear.

I can access the internet on any other computer, but noone can access it from mine and the settings are all the same.

Moral of the story so far. The next time you feel like moaning about IGear – better the devil you know……………………………………………….

The “UP” side of ICT

Graham Davidson — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 10:03:50 +0000

I, once again, had the pleasure of training some teachers in the use of Smart boards yesterday. They all arrived full of enthusiasm, and with a huge range of previous experiences, from the “I’ve never touched one before” to the “I have one in my classroom and use it every day”. Once they got started they all immediatley started helping and encouraging each other. It was wonderful to watch and a thoroughly uplifting day. Thanks to all who were there, and I hope your enthusiasm continues.

A Down side to ICT

Graham Davidson — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 10:17:53 +0000

We have recently experienced one of the nastier sides of ICT and I post this as a warning to all teachers out there. Pupils using mobile phones in a classroom, in particular, the cameras on mobile phones especially without the teacher’s knowledge. Recently a small video clip was taken in one of our classrooms and then posted on the internet for the whole world to see. This has the potential to leave any teacher in a very vulnerable situation and I would advise that you be extra vigilant.

Do We Practice What We Preach?

Graham Davidson — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 09:33:27 +0000

This morning was absolutely gorgeous – cold, clear and crisp. It is what winter should be like. As I was walking into the school, though, I noted to my horror the number of cars in the car park with small, what can only be described as postcard-sized, “clear bits” scraped from the windscreen to allow the driver to see out through the frost covered glass. Some others had obviously spent some considerable time scraping the frost away. But the worst of it is, all these people live within a comfortable walking distance of the school. They must have spent longer scraping the windscreen than they would have spent actually walking to work. And yet, we spend time educating students how they should be “saving the planet”, “cutting down on waste”, “recycling this”, “recycling that”, “we should be more eco-friendly”, etc..

Are we really practicing what we preach?

Christmas Quiz

Graham Davidson — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:29:58 +0000

A simple quiz for Christmas time. See how well you do!

xmas-things.xls

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Hello there!

Graham Davidson — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 15:36:48 +0000

A brief introduction.

I have been teaching Biology & Science in Tobermory High School for over 23 years now and have a strong interest in ICT.

I try to use ICT most days in the classroom, where I have an interactive whiteboard as my main teaching tool. I have developed a number of resources which I use with the board. I encourage my students to use ICT whenever the opportunity presents itself.

I was a “Masterclasser” in Argyll & Bute, and through the Microsoft Academy resources became a “Microsoft Master Instructor”.

I hope to post some of my uses of ICT on these pages in the near future.