Dynamic Groups aka a little bit of fun!
I have written twice about child-led groups for Studywiz and using them for X-Factor. I thought this time I would give some instructions so people can copy and use the idea if they want to.
Here in the UK, there is a constant stream of reality TV that the children get in to, no matter how awful it appears to some. The next one is Dancing on Ice, but there are 2 other dance shows due later in the Spring. I am slowly building these ideas up and trying them out with the aim to launching a huge plan for the World Cup in the Summer. It doesn’t need to be a TV show, but for schools wanting to extend the use of their Learning Platform with their children, a TV show is something the children are involved in. These ideas would work just as well for a football group or one based around anything the children are interested in. Why not ask them which groups they want?
Firstly, log in to admin. Go to hierarchy management, user groups and ‘Add new Group’. Give it a title, set it to self-joining for teachers and pupils and then choose who will be the admin/s of the group. Put yourself in the group as a teacher.
Once this is done, log in to Studywiz and you should see your group. In here, create a folder and set it as current. Now you’re ready to add some activities.
*Use the voting tool to get the children’s opinions on who they think should win or get kicked off. Does it match the actual results?
*Use discussion boards to talk about favourite/least favourite contestants. There is usually one comedy act that can’t dance or skate (Toddy Carty 2009 - Youtube) which will generate a lot of discussion!
*why not use the gallery and put photos of the contestants in there. Comments could be made about them or use the stars to rate them. The top 5 will then show on the gallery overview page.
*You could link to the performances on Youtube or ITVplayer, but be careful as it may be blocked in school and you might want to check the videos first.
*If you want to extend it a bit further, why not research the contestents? Who are they? What do they do?
The main point of this is to capture the children’s attention and make them aware of self-joining groups. Once they know what they can do, have a discussion and get them to suggest groups that they want to have within the class or school.
For children to join, they will need to go to Tools>Group Membership. Then press the Search tab, then click the Search button. They join by pressing the green plus next to the group. When they join, they will be in the group as a member, meaning that they can view and join in with activities but not create.
Although this post will be aimed at Studywiz users, I am sure it is possible to do in other Learning Platforms too. If you do use it elsewhere, let me know. I’m always keen to hear how people are using ICT with their children.
Ian Addison
Learning Platform Consultant, Hampshire
