Using "My World" to develop graphical and text-based classroom resources
"My World" is commonly used in Early Years and Key Stage 1 classrooms as a simple 'drag and drop' environment. It can also be found in certain 'niche' roles in the curriculum including Science and MFL at Key Stage2. The associated file type is '.myw' and all files are saved by default as 'templates' allowing teachers to set up tasks for pupils without risk of their accidentally erasing or over-writing 'original' documents. The basic installation of My World includes a number of 'modules'; other modules have to be bought separately on disk or CD-Rom.
The 'Menu' is made visible by pressing the ALT key. Some teachers never discover this, but many six-year-olds do... This offers you a number of options including 'Open' to select a new template file.
Figure 1: The My World Menu (Some of these are built-in modules; others I have developed and saved as new templates)
One of the most effective and useful modules in the basic installation of 'MyWorld' is 'maketown.myw'. This allows the construction of simple pictorial maps of real or imagined locations and provides opportunities to address Unit 1A of the QCA Exemplary Scheme of Work ('An Introduction to Modelling'). This demonstrates some of the key elements of 'My World' models.
Figure 2: 'maketown.myw' in action
Tasks with My World
- Task 3-1: Use Maketown to construct a picture map of the place where you live, or another locality with which you are familiar, or a fictional setting Remember to include labels where appropriate. Save it!
- Task 3-2: Assess your picture map. In what respects (if any) was the software unable to provide you with the picture you wanted to produce? What further activities could you now develop to take this map-making further? Or to link it to other curriculum areas.
- Task 3-3: Now open the module called 'basis.myw'. Boring, isn't it? However, you can use it to make your own 'screens' including (unfortunately) only text. Here are some screenshots to inspire you ...
Figure 3: A matching exercise built using 'basis.myw'.
Figure 4: An e.e.cummings poem gets the 'My World' treatment.
The e.e.cummings poem, 'Maggie and Milly and Molly and May', illustrates my point about software and conceptual complexity. We can the simple drag-and-drop facilities of 'My World' to undertake some quite sophisticated analysis of the poem. Is there a 'best' way to construct the poem? Do the girls have to appear in the poem in a particular order? What did each of them find?
Incidentally, this is what My World looks like if you select 'Desktop' in the menu (after typing' ALT).It works just like a standard Windows application with a menu bar etc.
Using "TextEase" to develop paper-based resources which also work on the screen
TextEase is a 'freeform' word processor popular amongst primary teachers. One of the reasons for this is that it does not make any assumptions about the nature of writing tasks undertaken in the primary classroom. Since many early writing activities involve matching words or blocks of text, or labelling, or mixing text and graphics, TextEase makes everything (graphics, clip art, text) into movable objects which can be dragged around the 'page'.
Despite a few idiosyncrasies (the "e" on the button bar stands for "effects",for example) this is a useful tool. You can use it solely as a design tool for your own benefit (handy for laying out worksheets, writing tasks, labels etc),or you can let children loose on 'templates' - documents which you have set up with a basic framework in place.
Important Point Number 2! It is very rare that you will set children tasks in which they are faced with a blank 'screen' on which they start typing. Think about replicating the kind of verbal advice you'd give them within your learning resources.
Task 3-4: Using TextEase
We're going to make a mildly multimedia resource by trawling the WWW for goodies...
Open Internet Explorer and go to your favourite search engine. If you are on the University network you will be prompted for your username and password at this point. Let's go and find a nice picture from a website (observing all necessary ethical and legal constraints at this point - not all web content is in the public domain, and just because you can take it doesn't meant you should). It could be an animal, plant, location, person or whatever - something which you might use as the basis of a labelling task. Quick Digression: Entering "about 3-5" words or phrases into a search engine will give you the best chance of finding what you want - unless you know exactly what you want, of course, in which you enter it in inverted commas. So "Cornish Rex" cat picture will probably find me a picture of a Cornish Rex cat. Like this one:
Figure 5: The image we're after
Having found the picture we want to snaffle (ethical and legal ... you get the idea), we can grab it to our network drive (C: drive it you are at home) by 'right-clicking' on it. At this point sometimes you get a polite message saying that the owner of the webpage would rather you didn't take their picture thank you very much. But more usually, this happens:
Figure 6: Grabbing an Image
Open TextEase and you should be presented with a nice clean 'sheet of paper'. You can now insert your picture like this:
Figure 7: Inserting a Graphic in TextEase
At this point, you might think, 'why not just copy and paste the image?' A good question - and in fact it would work. But this way you are keeping a copy of the image for future use - you could begin to build up a library of useful resources, in fact. And also, some operating systems and packages - particularly older ones - don't allow you to do 'cutting and pasting' between applications quite as smoothly.
Now click the cursor somewhere at the top of the page and provide a title ... and this is where we need to start to think about setting up the learning activity as much as the ICT ... you could try any of the following structures:
- labels around the picture to be connected to appropriate points on the picture
- a list of features - which ones can you see?
- a list of features to be rewritten into appropriate places
- stimulus statements or questions
- a 'story starter'
- ... the choice is yours!
Once you are satisfied, you can do a number of things - first of all, though, SAVE IT. You can:
- print it out and admire it
- take it home and stick it on your fridge
- e-mail a copy to your tutor
- e-mail a copy to your friends*, particularly those who have previously made fun of your ICT skills and/or artistic potential
- and of course ... put it in your portfolio as evidence of your ICT capability
* Since many of these won't have TextEase, you may have to save your work as a webpage (.htm)
Actually, the most interesting thing you can do with it is save it as a 'Document Template'
Document Templates
Document Templates are read-only versions of files. When a user opens the file, they get a copy of the original, which they then have to 'Save As' a new file. So you could put a template on a class computer or school network, and every child will have an opportunity to take a copy and work on their own version on screen - you can design activities to work on screen as well as on paper (just like My World!). Here is the key 'window':
Figure 8: Saving as a Template
Summary
If you can get into the habit of designing resources which work on screen as well as on paper, then 'seamless integration' of ICT will be one step closer, and children are more likely to be able to work independently on computers because the interface and activities will be familiar to them from other classroom activities.