See the video (requires QuickTime)
The first glimpse of the venue for the Conference
2000 that MAPE members were afforded was of an impressive Victorian Gothic building at the
end of a very imposing drive. Easthampstead Park, near Reading, provided a beautiful
setting for the events of the weekend and the sun shining on the exterior made it all seem
very grand.
MAPE Council met on Friday, before the conference, other delegates arrived in time for the workshops and presentations on Saturday. The weather of the day before had us all fooled, however as we awoke to find it was snowing!
It was difficult to select from the different
presentations on offer. Janice Staines provided some useful information on using ICT in
maths lessons using not only a variety of Internet sites, but also some available
software. Mike Matson demonstrated the use of digital video (DV) using a DV camcorder and
the easy-to-use iMovie video-editing software on an iMac, and Philip Mann showed us how to
make the most of our digital cameras. The plan had been to take photographs of the
beautiful grounds and enhance and manipulate them by using some of the many features of
Paint Shop Pro. The weather relented in time, and although it was very wet underfoot we
were able to record some of the patterns to be found. These patterns spanned time between
the
oldest man-made carved tracery on the balustrades, and natural branches on
the Araucaria (monkey-puzzles) to the most recent transient ripples made by water drops in
the fountain (or puddles!). Inside there were more examples of pattern including stained
glass windows and carpets. We learned how to alter the hue, and using the emboss
feature make them appear in relief. By cloning different parts of a picture it is possible
to make all sorts of alterations; you might move a piece of furniture, or remove an
eyesore altogether, and what about the photo of your best friend in that unfortunate
position with a lamppost/tree growing out of their head? It is no longer safe to say
"the camera never lies".
In the afternoon session Philip then went on to demonstrate datalogging, something, I'm sure, that many teachers have never fully got to grips with. Rob Crompton showed us how to put together a PowerPoint presentation; for those who have never tried it is a lot easier than it looks.
The afternoon finished with a keynote address by
Dave Futcher, of the National Numeracy Strategy. In his address Dave explained the hopes
and expectations of the Strategy as in terms of ICT. Simply put, only use ICT when it can
significantly improve teaching and learning. We were lucky enough to get a preview of some
of the software that will be going into schools later this year. Many of these programs
are old favourites brought up to date, (do you remember Monty and Play Train?) proving
that the old material can still be worth using.
The official proceedings of the day concluded with the BGM at which Steve Bailey, winner of the Chris Robson Memorial Prize, was presented with his award. Steve's winning article, Putting HyperStudio to the Test first appeared in MAPE Focus on Art, Summer Term 1998, and can also be found in the Curriculum Support section of the MAPE website.
After dinner Rob Crompton and David Congdon
entertained us all with a selection of "Sounds of the 60's" and other decades.
They had the good sense to provide song sheets for those of us too young to have heard the
words in their original version, or those of us too old to recall them!
On Sunday morning there were some shorter "Show and Tell" sessions. Fiona Sanderson explained how she had used StoryMaker and Alan Rodgers described a weather recording project at his school. There were two different sessions using Roamer, Dave Siviter gave some tips on managing a website, and Rhona Dick provided an insight into how the Focus on History CD-Rom had come to be. The sun shone and between the sessions we were able to have coffee on the terrace.
Conference ended with a short plenary session at 12 o'clock.
MAPE conferences are not as well attended as they
once were, but, as Heather Govier pointed out, they are much friendlier, and you have the
chance to talk to everyone.
I'm sure one conclusion that most people drew was that it had been a most enjoyable and relaxing weekend.
Thanks must go to everyone involved in making this yet another successful MAPE conference, particularly Rob and Betty who planned and organised it all, as well as everyone who presented sessions, RM for lending us the computers and Rob and David for the entertainment.
The date and venue for next year's conference has not yet been fixed, but it promises to be just as good.
Rhona Dick
