Posts Tagged ‘Do Be’

The Teach-IT Evaluation

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Everyone who knows a member of the Do-Be team will tell you the same thing – we are all so enthusiastic about our products and sincerely believe that they do make a noticeable impact upon our learners and the practice of professionals with whom we engage.

We have also had loads of great (published) feedback from our numerous presentations, training days and CPD sessions delivered to our customers. Pupils have also enthused about the Teach-IT series and how it engages, inspires and enthuses them in their learning.

Sometimes that is enough, but more of the same wouldn’t do any harm. So, we are delighted to publish an independent evaluation carried out into our Teach-IT product line.

‘Following a three month research process carried out in Autumn 2011, this report evaluates ‘Teach-IT’, one of a range of teaching products and services produced by Do-Be, a Scottish based company who promote the use of ICT and new media technologies within education settings. The research was funded through the Knowledge Exchange scheme of Perth College which is part of the new University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).’

This independent evaluation was undertaken by Dr. Lynn Whitaker, a research assistant for the Centre for Rural Childhood, Perth College UHI, under the directorship of Professor Rebecca Wallace.

We at Do-Be are delighted with the evaluation, key findings and executive summary. We would like to take this opportunity to encourage our friends, customers and potential customers to download and read the evaluation for yourselves. We would also like to thank Dr. Whittaker and everyone who gave freely of their time to contribute to the evaluation.

If you have any comments or feedback on this please get in touch or alternatively, tweet us, or drop us a message on our Facebook page.

 

It’s always nice…

Monday, April 30th, 2012

…to hear what other people have to say about us. The video below has a cross-section of our product users giving their honest and frank opinions about out Teach-IT series.

Have a watch, have a think then check out our resources for yourself. As ever, please get in touch if you would like to know more.

 

 

Talking about Do-Be

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

 

 

As well as showcasing our glorious leader (Director, Motivator and all round good girl), the lovely Louise at Do-Be Ltd, this video let’s you know all about our mission here at Do-Be.

(It also let’s me test the ‘Blogsy’ app on the new iPad.

Teach-It at St Johns

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Scott and Kirsten were delighted to work with the teachers at St John’s Primary in East Renfrewshire yesterday. The teachers were confident and really up for trying out new technologies and approaches to enhance learning and teaching.

Teachers were trained on everything from animation to Google Earth to podcasting. What’s great is the school has purchased their own copy of Teach-It 1 so everything that we trained on is in there in a step-by-step easy to follow way. I think teachers really enjoyed the hand on aspect of the training. Do-Be training isn’t just about showcasing our material it’s about giving teachers hands on experience to help increase their digital confidence. We had lots of great feedback;

“Really enjoyed the afternoon. So many ideas that will enhance teaching in many areas”.

“Teachers left inspired and already thinking about what they could be doing the next day with their class”.

“Linoit was great for pupil self evaluation. I could use the coloured post-its as traffic lights”.

Scott and Kirsten really enjoyed the session and it was great to work with such an enthusiastic and motivated staff. Big thank you to Marion Johnson Principal Teacher for organising the session.

The Power of Google Earth…

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Teach-It 1 and 2 have many references to Google Earth and its potential in the classroom. In fact, our recent FREE LESSON RESOURCE: JAPAN 2011 demonstrates this.  Stephen has created this awesome fly-through and tour video which takes you…..oh, that’s spoiling the impact of the video!

- just watch it for yourself and see how powerful GE is (and how awesome Stephen is, and how cool Teach-It is).


Kirsten’s Prezi at YHGFL

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Here is the Prezi used today at Kristen’s Teach-It presentation to North Yorkshire Grid for Learning. It is an absolute cracker and really gives you an idea of what Teach-It can do for you.

 

 

Free Teach-It Lesson Plan:- Japan 2011

Monday, March 21st, 2011

japanflag

Being the kind, generous sort, the guys at Do-Be have produced a full Teach-It lesson resource focusing on the terrible events in Japan over the last 2 weeks.

The lesson uses Google Earth to visually explore the impact of the Earthquake, Tsunami and subsequent nuclear threat at Fukushima 1.

Click the Teach-It logo above to download the resource and add it to your Teach-It pack, or print it out and use it – then get in touch if you want to resource our great range of lesson ideas in Teach-It 1 and Teach-It 2.

Latest Do-Be update from Scott @ Do-Be.

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

scott

Do-BeScott has sent me some cool linkies for you to have a look at. Its is some of the work he has been involved in this week.

First we have a link to the Teachmeet page from Tuesday night.

We also had Val Kennedy from Inverkeithing talking about Teach-It Alcohol awareness (See about 7 minutes into this video).  Here is a report from a local Fife newspaper, The Courier about the project.

Do-Be also sponsored and gave away 2 paper Teach-It packs and 2 online access codes to Teach-It as prizes – how cool is that?

Lastly I was also at the Glow Futures presentation at the Apex hotel on Tuesday morning.  Check it out here.

Thanks for the update Scott – don’t work too hard!

Do-Be Stand at NAACE

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011


A cracking picture of Louise, the director of Do-Be at Stand 18 in the marquee at Naace showcasing the cracking Teach-It series.As well as demonstrating their products, Louise and Kirsten are giving away loads of freebies including MP3′s and pens.

Why not head over for a freebie – I bet once you see what Teach-It can do you might walk away with more than you expected.

What the team are up to this week…

Monday, March 14th, 2011


Monday 14th

Stephen is in the Borders training Teach-It 1.
Scott is presenting to Holy Name PS in Fife.
Lou and Kirsten begin ‘Do Be girls on tour’ to NAACE.

Tuesday 15th

Stephen is running Teach-It 2 training in Melrose, Borders with 9 secondary schools and going to TeachMeet in Fife at night.

Scott is in the office all day and going to Fife’s first TeachMeet at night .
(We are sponsoring the drinks at this event and really looking forward to meeting some Fife educators.)

We are also giving away 2 Teach-It online and 2 paper packs to some very, very lucky schools!

Val Kennedy from Inverkeithing HS is doing a 7 min presentation on TIAA.
Scott will be available to meet/chat to anyone who fancies coming along and saying hi.

Kirsten and Lou will be working socks off at Naace by this stage – the girls will also be meeting Bradford and Woking Council in between.

Wednesday 16th

Scott is presenting Teach-It 1 to Grammar PS in South Ayr.

Lou and Kirsten are still at Naace on stand 18 at the Conference

2011 – Brave New World: Changing Times in Education – 15 – 17 March
2011 – Wokefield Park Reading:http://www.naace.co.uk/conference2011.

We have pride of place and one of the biggest stands at the conference (!) stand 18 in the marquee – please come and say hi!

The Naace Strategic Conference and Exhibition is recognised as one of the key forums for exploring, debating and challenging current thinking about technology and learning. With top-flight keynote speakers, workshops on topical issues and an exhibition with the most innovative suppliers, Naace 2011 is gearing up to be another formative event.

Thursday 17th

Scott is training Teach-It 1 at Wellwood PS – school of Olivia Wexelstein.
(DoBe Do’er and fab teacher – also key organiser of TeachMeet).

Lou and Kirsten are back in a heap but trudging through the tons of contacts they’ve made at Naace and making sure they get in touch with each one.

Friday 18th

Stephen is training probationers at Inverclyde on how to use and apply new technologies to the curriculum to meet aims of CfE.

Friday night – we are all going out for a DTS night in Glasgow (thank you to our lovely pal Jim Lawson at North Lanarkshire Council for the invite!)

IPad/iPhone App of the Week – TeacherPal

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011


TeacherPal:-

I have been using this app for my iPad/iPhone as a teacher for about 3 months now and it’s the best I have tried so far. TeacherPal is a personal organiser for the teacher. It enables the you to organise classes, and pupils. Its simple and intuitive interface enables you to track the attendance, grades and behaviour of pupils. You can backup straight to Dropbox (another free app) and export/import from/to excel files.


I created class lists on my computer and synced through iTunes. This seems to be the best way of getting your class lists onto the iPad. You can then edit and update to your hearts content.


Once you build up data, the export function is awesome for forwarding information to staff who require performance/attendance data. The latest update also let’s you sync between devices so your data is always up to date.


Price: £Free

Why not give it a try?


Doobs will post a ‘test class’ from his Facebook Followers to let you import and experiment with the app. Keep watching for the update…

Teach-It 2 Launch

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

LMLaunch

This year we chose to launch our latest product – Teach-It 2 during the Scottish Learning Festival #SLF2010.  We decided not to shell out big bucks for a stand at SLF where, let’s face it, many people you try talking to blatantly ignore you due to having to madly scout your stand for free pens and sweeties.

Instead we invited lots of people to enjoy a glass of champers with us and get a good look at Teach-It 2 and our pro-bono resource ‘Teach-It Alcohol Awareness’ at The Lighthouse in Glasgow.

I was delighted at how many people made the effort to come along and share our special evening with us and proud that many of them are now our friends.  Massive thank you to all of you.  I had quite a few ‘ooooft’ moments during the evening – many of which came from looking at my team ‘in action’ – talking passionately about why we do what we do.

The response to Teach-It 2 from teachers and local authority contacts was very positive and Inverclyde Council purchased it for every school on the night.  Most people felt that it will help teachers to harness technology in class and use the software/hardware available in schools to the full potential.  We will give you a flavour of the creative ideas in Teach-It 2 soon….watch this space!

Stephen did a presentation on Teach-It Alcohol Awareness – check out his prezi here.  The aim of this resource is to support and enhance the teaching of alcohol awareness throughout the Curriculum for Excellence by providing teachers with innovative ideas for using ICT to capture pupils attention and engage their minds.  This resource is free for all schools in Scotland and looks at Identity, Motivation, Confidence and Decision Making through some really cracking new technologies and Web 2.0 sites.