Extending Horizons

A quick way of collecting links

2009-12-15T18:02:00.006Z

A few links I found - just testing how it works in Blogger

In Safari, I dragged the links into a Mail message, copied them and pasted here. Simple!

Edubeacon » SuperClubsPLUS Australia

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Teaching News | Tag Archive | superclubs plus

Blogging Holiday

2009-11-19T02:29:00.002Z

I'm taking a holiday from blogging. Email if you really need me.

Little Angel Press

2009-09-23T16:42:00.006+01:00

Blog author, Robert Hart and Carole Fletcher are creatives and educators who have worked together on large inspirational internet education projects over 20 years and have a pedigree in various art forms. We are passionate about reflecting life's journey through stories, paintings and photographs.

The Little Angel Press launched in June 2009 with its first publishing project, Robert’s novel Rebecca’s Secrets and Carole's luscious Seascape and Landscape photographs.

Giving Children a Voice
Robert and Carole also want to give children a voice and an interested audience. As founders of the Bafta-winning Intuitive Media, a global social enterprise dedicated to nurturing children’s creativity, we have inspired over a million children around the world to be writers and artists. Now, with partners Scholastic UK, and Intuitive Media we want to bring children’s writing and art to a new audience.

In August 09 we published our first books written by children: Young Authors of the Year with 65 award-winning stories from children aged 7 to 13 and Imagine - a full colour picture essay about life and the universe by 12 year old Anjit Tandahar.

Just Imagine

2009-09-23T16:28:00.005+01:00

Many adults think we have all the answers and that our role is to teach these to children, but we have found that children ask themselves highly challenging questions and their curiosity and quest for understanding can generate imaginative ideas and sometimes they come up with very practical solutions to world problems. We are proud to present Imagine - the thoughts of Anjit Tandukar.

Within the pages of this delightful book, Anjit, a 12-year old boy from Nepal, gives free rein to his curiosity and invites us to share his deepest inner thoughts, his imagination and his ideas.

Always questioning, challenging and reflecting, Anjit puts forward some remarkably sophisticated theories about the future of the universe, the environment, technology and the human race that would make even the world’s most eminent scientists stop and think. At the same time, children and young people will be captivated by Anjit’s imaginings.

Who could resist the notion of a world ruled by dolphins, who conserve water and stop global warming? Or the possibility of a Liogle, a half-lion, half-eagle creature with incredible strength, eyesight and the ability to fly?

As well as sharing with us his logic, intuition and charming unbridled imagination; Anjit also invites us into his inner personal world. With unusual insight he explores the feeling of being the only human being alive. His musings on this question will challenge the greatest philosophical thinkers whilst at the same time striking a chord with all young people on the brink between childhood and young adulthood who wonder about their own sense of identity and individualism.

Young Authors of the Year

2009-09-23T16:16:00.005+01:00

Little Angel Press with partners Intuitive Media and Scholastic launched the first book written by the children of SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe for adults and children everywhere. Carole Fletcher says:

“We are committed to inspiring children to enjoy writing and to become authors, so we launched The Young Author of the Year Competition in 2008. Thousands of children took part and submitted stories showing their huge talent and creativity The children wrote their stories at school and at home, taking hours, even days, to perfect them and the results are amazing – inventive, imaginative, entertaining and often very funny."

This book includes stories from all the shortlisted writers and of course the two winners, ten-year-old Abhyankar from SuperClubsPLUS and twelve-year-old Katherine from GoldStarCafe, selected by children's authors Rachael Wing and Dan Freedman.

Rebecca's Secrets

2009-09-20T11:41:00.000+01:00

At last my first novel is published here! Here's the blurb...

What happens when a boy starts asking questions? It’s New Year’s day, 1956, and as the low winter sun penetrates the dark corners of Eric Street, it sets fire to a boy’s curiosity.

“Until this day I’d lived unaware. I didn’t live my life — it lived me. But I did know I was different from other kids. There was something secret about me and my family. That morning I became curious. That day I started asking questions.”

Charming, funny and sad, this novel is based on a true story. Tommy Angel is an orphan growing up with his grandparents, Rebecca and Daniel, in the East End of London in the Fifties.

Tommy tries to make sense of the world around him but his questions arouse shameful memories, stir the family ghosts and open a box of dark family secrets. Gradually he uncovers the truth about his lost sisters, his real father and mother.

The author, a distinguished educator, born in 1945, grew up in an extended Jewish family in the East End of London. This debut novel is based his childhood.

Rebecca's secrets published by Lulu.com

200,000 Kids Cross the Greenland Ice Cap

2009-05-28T18:10:00.007+01:00

Niall McCann (left) and Murray Smith (right) of Team Epic (Patron Sir Ranulph Fiennes) are good friends of SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe, so were happy to take about 200,000 children with them on their epic 25-day crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap.

They journeyed on foot, unsupported – just the two of them, hauling 90kg sleds 335 miles up and over the mile thick ice cap, from Tasiilaq on the East coast to Kangerlussuaq on the West coast. While on the ice they risked close encounters with polar bears, they spent whole days skiing in whiteout conditions with gale-force winds and temperatures as low as -25°C plus wind-chill. Their ski bindings broke. They suffered blisters, sunburn, snow blindness, and frostbite in some awkward places. Murray even met one of Santa's Elves.

They shared all the risk, all the effort and sometimes the excruciating pain with the children of SCP and GSC who walked with them every step of the way through their blog in the Adventure Club and their courageous efforts inspired over 100 children to write accounts of their own real life adventures.

Must-Read Report from ACMA

2009-04-27T12:05:00.003+01:00

Download the report here.

I recommend a read of the latest report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority on developments in internet filtering technologies and other measures for promoting online safety (Apr 2009)

Check out p. 43 for a good overview of the use (or not) of age verification to validate children online.

Pure Joy!

2009-03-31T14:34:00.002+01:00

How could anyone not be totally delighted at the spirit behind these benign invasions of public spaces? Enjoy!

Child Protection Videos

2009-02-27T18:03:00.011Z

I've brought together here some very powerful videos made by Intuitive Media's child safety partners CEOP, ChildNet International to help parents and young people understand the dangers of online grooming and bullying. But because most abused children are hurt by someone in their own family, I've included one video by NSPCC.

We probably suspect that young girls are the most vulnerable to online grooming, but this video from CEOP illustrates how quite mature teen boys can become prey.

Of course girls are vulnerable to predators too. Check out this video from CEOP.

Bullying is the most common form of online abuse, and as this story from ChildNet International shows, boys are just as vulnerable as girls:

Where's Klaus from CEOP is a great reminder to parents to keep track of just who our children are talking to:

BUT we have to remember that online abuse is relatively rare and while one child dies of abuse every week, the culprit is most likely to be someone in the child's family. That's why Intuitive Media supports NSPCC:

Kids Demand Prime Minister Makes Childhood Safer

2009-02-26T12:18:00.009Z

What would you say to the Prime Minister if you found yourself alone in a lift with him for 30 seconds? Well, we now know exactly what 6000 children aged six to 14 would say!

Today Intuitive Media published a new research report that calls for the Prime Minister and the Government to do more to listen to children; keep children safe; stop bullying; cut down gun and knife crime and ban drugs, alcohol and smoking.

Someone's listening!
The Rt.Hon Charles Clarke MP, listens to kids
who took part in the Happy & Safe research

Over 6,000 children, aged six to 14 years in SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe contributed to the Happy and Safe research and they called for extra policing and surveillance in parks and other places where they play and on their walk to and from school. One of the most popular suggestions from the children was an emergency number that they can call anytime they felt unsafe (63%) or more specifically a police helpline on their mobile (59%).

We asked the children what made them feel happy and safe in the real world and in their new online worlds and we also invited them to tell the Government how their lives could be improved. The children told us what they would say to the Prime Minister if they found themselves alone in a lift with him for 30 seconds.

Children said if they felt the streets were safe, 83 per cent of them would walk to school every day and if parks were safer 78 per cent of children would play out more. Nearly two thirds (60%) suggested using signs to either warn children a place is safe or unsafe to play.

The children's biggest concerns were violence (54%), street crime (53%) and sadly half of them (51%) worry about their parents arguing or divorcing. Nearly half, (48%) worry about their own health, and in recession-hit Britain, 40 per cent worry about being poor.

"I want the Prime Minister to stop gang crime and alcohol and drugs being on the streets as I don't like sleeping on a Friday or Saturday night because of all the shouting and teenagers around.”
- Megan, 11

Overall, the report shows that most children (82%) do feel happy and safe most of the time and that the love of their family and friends is the most important source of happiness. However, they also said that boredom is the biggest downer (74%) along with adults who expect too much of them and having to work too hard. They want more freedom to play (52%), relax (49%) and pursue their hobbies (65%) and they want more time to spend in their online communities being creative (60%).

“I'd say that he [the Prime Minister] needs to seriously think about the amount of homework given in school. I've been really stressed about all the work I have to do, and one week I didn't even have any time to do anything fun at all.”
- Catriona, 13

When looking at children's everyday online behaviour, we found there is still significant leeway for them to stray into risky behaviour online with over a third of children (38%) using their computers alone in their rooms giving them the opportunity to surf the web unsupervised and take part in private online conversations without their parents' knowledge.

And, despite most children (80%) claiming they do understand the risk of giving personal contact details out to strangers online there is still a minority (15%), that don't. In addition, 15 per cent of children said they wouldn't tell their parents, teachers or friends if someone they met online came to their house (14%) phoned them (16%) or asked for their contact details (17%).

We've sent the report to Gordon Brown and Ed Balls. It will be interesting to see their response. I'll let you know what they have to say to the kids.

Does social networking harm children's brains?

2009-02-24T11:59:00.010Z

We've just had a 'Chilling warning to parents' from top neuroscientist, Baroness Professor Susan Greenfield who says that "Social networking websites are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users". Her fear is that"'these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.' The baroness is worried that children's brains are changing: 'It is hard to see how living this way on a daily basis will not result in brains, or rather minds, different from those of previous generations,' she said.

I do worry when scientists and academics cross the line from measuring and explaining changes to telling us how to think about their findings. They can't know anymore than we can what will turn out to be an evolutionary advantageous change and what will be disadvantageous.

The Internet is rotting your brain, Jack!

OLD KNOWLEDGE
People (including kids) no longer have the skills to read slide rules or logarithm tables. Should we regret that? No. Life moves on and demands new knowledge, new understandings and new kinds of creativity and personal interaction. That's what our kids are learning, partly through engaging in their online worlds and social networks.

INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Kids are gaining inter-cultural understanding. Research on the kids in IM's Social Learning Networks (SuperClubsPLUS.com and GoldStarCafe.net) found that 60% of children's online friends are outside their town, in fact, they are scattered across the UK and in 45 different countries. To these kids a foreigner is not a stranger to be feared or mocked, but a friend to play with and work with, write stories together, build online clubs together, and discuss world news as it's happening.

Social Learning Networks encourage kids to think on a more global scale. They understand our global interdependence far better than most of their parents.

INTERPERSONAL UNDERSTANDING
This month our kids have been talking to Australian kids about the terrible bush fires. Its been a valuable way for the Aussie kids to express their feelings and for the UK kids to express their empathy, for something that's might be on the other side of the world, but that involves real people - their online friends. Now that's NEW - very different to watching a news article on the television - our kids are directly involved and able to immediately offer some comfort and help. It's a new experience and it encourages new ways of thinking.

MULTI-THINKING, MULTI-TASKING
We know many of our kids spend a couple of hours each evening social networking in SuperClubsPLUS or GoldStarCafe. At the same time they are instant messaging and talking on their phones and they also have one eye on the TV and one ear awaiting Mum's call for tea. You could say that's damaging and making them butterfly minded, distracted and shallow or you could say it's turning them into fast-paced multi-taskers, who can think and work effectively in multiple media.

BRINGING FAMILIES CLOSER IN LEARNING
We also know that taking part in a Social Learning Network - far from isolating children and inhibiting conversation
can actually bring children closer to their families. Research by the Scottish Executive found that nearly all parents of kids in SuperClubsPLUS believed that use of the service had improved their child’s interest in learning 84% of parent said that SuperClubsPLUS raised their child’s attainment and encouraged parents to collaborate with their children on school work. - SuperClubsPLUS Evaluation For Learning and Teaching Scotland April 2007.

More recent research also shows the Internet is bringing families together.

"It is clear from the research results that the Internet has gained a significant place in children's daily lives. Almost all of the children surveyed use the Internet at home with their parents. Their mothers are particularly engaged with their homework and formal learning and take an interest in their online safety. Fathers join in to a lesser extent but encourage children with the fun aspects and help them with their hobbies." - Learning in the Family, November 2008

There is even evidence that kids using Social Learning Networks are becoming better learners: The University of Hertfordshire found that kids using SuperClubsPLUS "become better learners". - An Evaluation of the Educational and Social Benefits of SuperClubsPLUS for children - Dr. Karen Pine, School of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, September 2006.

LEARNING MATTERS
The big difference here, is that these social networks are dedicated to LEARNING and deliberately set out to optimise the learning experience for children. That doesn't mean they are not entertaining too, but enabling learning is the network provider's main driver.

Yes maybe Facebook encourages us to be a bit self-regarding and maybe playing violent multi-player video games gives us a taste for death and deatruction. But maybe we should all have the humility to say that the world is changing, we are changing and kids are changing, and that's evolution. It's not good. It's not Bad. It's just different and who knows where it will lead? I don't and nor does Baroness Greenfield.

www,intuitivemedia.com
www.superclubsplus.com
www.goldstarcafe.net

Kids in Australia and the UK Share The Pain

2009-02-11T16:54:00.015Z

The Weather used to be a boring topic of conversation. Now it’s way too interesting.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if children round the world could tell each other what the weather’s doing in their countries day by day? Well, that’s the aim of World Weather Watch – an international collaborative project led by Kent Education and open to schools across the UK and round the world. It runs within SuperClubsPLUS. Children from over 100 schools have so far taken part in the project and have collaborated with friends from 45 countries.

When we launched the project we could never have imagined the events of the past weeks with Britain brought to a standstill by a few inches of snow while South Australia was burning up in the worst bushfires in the country's history.

Reports from Charlotte, Tiannalee and Ebony

Many of the Australian children have been sharing their pain and fear with kids in the UK through the SuperClubsPLUS forums:

“There are fires near my house! We can smell smoke i need my asthma puffer. My grandma and grandpa and uncle and auntie got affected.” - Felix

"The man who started this is horrible, selfish and many more negative things! I saw the pictures and videos of the people and their houses being collapsed and burnt and it made my eyes water. I feel so sorry 4 Australia right now!" - Loulou

"I don't like fires every since I was little NOW WHO EVER DID THIS think of all the people and animals who live near by. It is called arson for all of you who do not know. I am really concerned because fire fighters and ambulance and police services are doing all they can to save all these people and animals but some die because of these horrid people who do not care about others and think they're cool when there not and they are putting them selves in prison so that's their fault and for old people and disabled people who were first out of their homes or died in them I have a mate who lives near there. I am really annoyed with the person who did this and why did they does this?" - Jenna

"THIS WEEKS SHOCKING NEWS (FROM A BOY NAMED BOBBY) I should be the one being scared because I have to go and live there again and I have to live with my uncle and my dad + my mum. I am going to Melbourne so please wish me a lot of luck. I only had 2 friends dead there are my real mates." - Bobby

“Hi. I have relatives in Australia at the minute that have been affected by the fires. They were moved to a little house away from the fires. They have been allowed to move back into their house but they say they can still smell smoke which is worrying. Some people believe that someone has been starting the fires. My message is to ask those starting them to please stop. You are affecting more people than you think you are. I just hope and that everyone can be safe.” - Caolmhe

"Well I know a person who lives in Australia they are having a hard time. There was a kangaroo in the sea drinking water because it is so hot. It is weird because we are having really cold weather and we are having snow and they are having heat waves. Because it is so hot there is so many bushfires at the minute it is very scary in case there is going to be a bush firer near them." - Sara

"It was so scary I was in one of the towns at the time of the bush fire I was in my house and my school nearly got burnt but I was lucky it wasn't. R.I.P for the people that died p.s my house did not get burnt." – Shona

"That is so sad for all the people that lost theri houses and the one in Narre Warren South you could see the Flames from my auntie's house so I had to run home to see if we had a house. Backyard gone." – Chloe

“I feel so very sad for those people who lost homes, family members and animals. I am so heart broken that some one out there would do something so terrible and some other people tried to take the donations given by the true blue Aussies. I think that it is amazing that so many people have tried so hard to make the adults and children much more comfortable with there surroundings. Our school have donated over $7000.” - Jovita

"I feel so sorry for the families who have lost their homes over a person who started what we call Black Saturday! My closest cousin's farm was burnt down. They still have a house and every member of the family. They had 19 chickens, 3 goats, 2 alpacas, 1 dog and 1 horse called Miss Brown. In the Fire they lost 1 goat and a few chickens! They protected the animals and now most are safe! I am still quite ANGRY at the people who did this!" - Brooke

“Hello my friends who are affected by bush fires, Just remember that you are not alone in your sadness,we are there with you and I know that you all are great heroes. Keep it up.” - Bailey

The forums were very valuable for the children who were able to express their fears and comfort each other. Antionnette Birkenbeil, IM Mediator in Australia wrote:

“Please thank everyone for their good wishes and concern. Everything that can be done is being done - and the weather is kinder, less heat, less wind. Less smoke hangs in the air, there is lots of goodwill, town meetings and fund raising everywhere, people taking food and clothes to shelters and trailers of fodder for animals.

“I think the SuperClubsPLUS Bushfire Forum was very helpful for the children and they said many wonderful, sensible brave things - the forum gave them the opportunity to have a voice. The forum is very inspiring and recovery is happening very quickly. Everyone is getting help, and the Australian bush has a fantastic capacity to regenerate and pastures will return, perhaps with more native grasses which will come back faster because they are more drought and fire resistant.”

“It will rain soon, after a few more weeks of heat - it is the cycle for these countries. There are huge fires every year in California, Spain and South of France - but we must have forests and there must be places where trees grow in their natural state to provide native habitat for animals and birds as well as being part of the solution to global warming. Thanks again.”

Dr. Martyn Wild, Director, Intuitive Media Australia, wrote to us from IM office in Melbourne on 10 Feb 2009:

"We now have 200+ reported dead, hundreds of homes destroyed, thousands traumatized. The story will go on in Victoria, Melbourne and Australia for months ahead, and the human stories are just emerging - the father who followed his family car on his motorbike, overcome with fire whilst the car escaped; a man burned alive in his home, just metres from his car outside already ticking over which by freak of nature remained untouched; a father who lost his two children but saved his house; wildlife (kangaroos, koalas) burned to death where they stood, unable to escape. Reports include fires spreading at over 60 km/hr, cars unable to outrun the flames, roads alight, a car with a family inside simply combusted as it drove, the heat was so intense.

Fire is Australia's long-time nemesis. The fact that this was a freak fire (caused it seems, deliberately by arsonists) and driven by the strong winds and air temperatures of 47C, is possibly an indication of things to come in years ahead."

What's so heartbreaking and so incomprehensible, especially by the children, is that some of the fires were set deliberately by arsonists, who must have know what scale of death and destruction they could cause, with the 1994 fires in NSW still etched in memory when, under similar temperature and wind conditions, the Royal National Park in Sydney and 6 million square hectares were completely destroyed by arson. The arsonists would certainly remember the more recent fires of Christmas 2001 with more than 900 fires, nearly 2,000 miles of fire perimeter, and more than 1.86 million acres of forest and shrub land burned – these fires began with lightning strikes in remote areas but some were spread by arsonists.

Since we heard about the fires, we've found it hard to shake from our minds the horrible suffering of the adults and children in Victoria, and we all feel so helpless. The least we can do is to send this message to all the SuperClubbers in Australia and to all the people of Victoria:

Dear Australians,

This message goes out to the SuperClubbers and all the children of the beautiful state of Victoria and to all your parents and teachers.

We want you to know that we are thinking about you at this time of tragedy and loss.

Some of you have lost your homes, your schools and your loved ones. Some of you have been hurt and many will have been frightened by this terrible experience. Many of you will have friends and family who have suffered from these horrific fires. We cannot begin to imagine the pain and sadness you are going through.

All we can do is tell you that you are in our thoughts all the time. We send you all our love and we all pray that the winds will die down and this horror will end quickly. And we pray for the recovery of all of you who have been affected by this disaster.

May your bodies heal quickly and your minds be free of fear and may your hearts be touched by the generosity of family, friends and neighbours and the thousands of men and women and children across Australia and around the world who are sending what they can to help you.

Our Love and Best Wishes

Robert Hart & Carole Fletcher
The Intuitive Media Global Team
The UK and Canadian SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe Mediators

Kids Have High Hopes for Obama

2009-02-08T06:46:00.004Z

Over 500 UK kids give their views on Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America took his oath. Their words show they are fed up with racism and poverty and are looking to Obama to drive global change.

'I hope that Obama will change the way other people think. Black people could be respected more and everyone will act differently. I hope he makes it.' Lauren, 11, UK

Hopes are high that America's first black president will "change the difference between black and white" as one school child from England posted on the special Obama Forum. Run by Intuitive Media on one of their safe social networking sites. The forum had over 500 kids participating during the new President's inauguration and in the immediate aftermath.

Full report by Carole Hart-Fletcher here.

90,000 Sex Offenders in MySpace

2009-02-05T11:05:00.006Z

MySpace has revealed to a task force of state Attorneys General looking into sex offenders' use of social networking, that they identified and barred 90,000 registered sex offenders from using the site over the last two years.

MySpace executives said they were confident in their Sentinel SAFE technology – which has a database of names, physical descriptions and other identifiable characteristics of sex offenders that cross-references against MySpace members.

Well they might be confident but I am not. I have some questions for MySpace...

If they can identify offenders why did they let them in in the first place? Why not check their data at the moment of registration?

What damage were these people able they do in the network during the two years it took MySpace to weed them out?

What is MySpace doing about the smarter offenders who register under false names like most MySpace users?

That 90,000 may be the tip of the iceberg, with many other predators on the loose in MySpace who are not on the sex offenders register.

And when MySpace catches offenders and throws them out, what's to stop them coming right back in with a new profile name on a computer with a different IP address?

Most importantly, what is MySpace planning to do to keep vulnerable young people and children out of the network and away from the predators? If you have children and anonymous adults on a networking website it's almost impossible to police their interaction. Whatever MySpace does (and they have tried) to protect their members under 16 from unsuitable content and unwelcome "friends", none of it works for the millions of young kids who register in MySpace and other networks by lying about their age.

"Despite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usually 13 (14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say that they have a profile on a site." - Social Networking, A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use. - Ofcom

It's not possible for MySpace to prevent someone aged 11 posing as 18, or conversely an adult of 55 posing as a 14 year old. Without identity and age verification no social network is safe for youngsters.

BUT identity and age verification is entirely possible - Intuitive Media does it. Yes, it costs money, but we find that most parents and teachers are committed to keeping their kids safe online and they are happy to pay a little more to cover the costs of verification and safe mediation.

Charles Clarke in the Hot Seat

2009-01-23T12:39:00.013Z

One of the highlights of the BETT Show this year was the Rt. Hon. Charles Clarke's live face to face Hot Seat interview with kids from SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe. Charles met with two children, Ryan and Girjeet, before of audience of influential people in the education sector and he answered their quick-fire questions of a wide range of issues.

Girjeet and Ryan give Charles a grilling.

But that wasn't all - he also had a simultaneous video-conference link with a class of primary children in Folkestone and on top of that a Hot Seat Forum with thousands of children logging in from their schools all over the UK in SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe.

Jacob and Katijah quiz Charles in the SuperClubsPLUS Hot Seat Forum

The audience were amazed at the children's confidence and delighted by their curiosity and direct questioning. Charles did his very best to keep up with the questions and gave the children a valuable insight to the life of an MP and his own beliefs. Here's just a snippet from the online Hot Seat:

Katijah: "What would you do about global warming?"
Charles: "I would focus on energy (renewable) and transport (everyday journeys). On Climate issues - we can change the rules. We can charge for carbon usage or invest in helping people to insulate their homes. There are many decisions to weigh up, to help people take responsibility by giving them incentives. One big thing we can do is to have better public transport so people will choose not to use cars this will really help reduce carbon emissions."

Jacob: "Whats your best idea?"
Charles: "Great question! The Global Gateway is probably.It 's a website for schools around the world to find other schools with similar interests. Once they're connected the schools collaborate internationally.

Daniel: "What would you like to be if you weren't an MP?"
Charles: "Education is what I am most passionate about. I believe education can change everyone's lives in a big way. If I was not an MP I would be teaching. My four Grandparents were teachers and I believe teaching is a very important role, as it's important to help children aspire to be the best they can be."

Britain’s 1000 Young Authors Have Got Talent

2008-12-04T13:13:00.019Z

If you want to see real talent, you just need to look at the 1000 young writers who took part in the Young Author of the Year competition in SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe.

Sponsored by Intuitive Media and Scholastic UK to celebrate the National Year of Reading, the competition encouraged children to show their writing talent.

Scholastic has huge enthusiasm for encouraging children’s reading and writing and they share Intuitive Media’s passion for children’s learning, but encouraging children to read and write can sometimes be a challenge, so it was good to see that engaging children in a their own social learning networks, working predominantly at home with their online friends, made all the difference. The results speak for themselves.

All the children’s entries were of a very high standard and covered a variety of themes from romance to horror, mystery to science fiction. With over 1,000 entries from both communities, the competition judges, authors Dan Freedman and Rachael Wing had a very difficult job choosing the winners. One winner from each community will be presented with a notebook computer by Dan or Rachael and the winners will also be offered live Hot Seat interviews with the professional writers.

And the winners are...
The award-winning story from SuperClubsPLUS, was The Forest by Abhyankar. It's about a small boy Tom who, alone in the forest encounters the Last Wolf in Britain. Here's an extract where Tom is trapped high in a tree and...

"Tom watched in horror as the sleek, grey mammal, its eyes full of malice and mouth dripping saliva, came to the very tree he was sitting in. Tom thought he was safe, until the wolf gripped the tree, its claws digging in, and bizarrely, began to clamber up. When it reached a branch, it leapt to the next. Then the next, and then the next.

Tom had no time to think. He dived out of the tree, and hit the rough ground rolling. He began to run. The Wolf howled and dropped down and chased. A salty liquid was running down Tom’s face, perhaps it was sweat, perhaps it was tears. It was probably both. Tom stole a quick glance at his hand, which was throbbing unusually and gasped. A huge gash from a tree branch ran the length of his lower arm. Tom felt like stopping, like giving in, but inside him, something had awoken, it wasn’t fear, it wasn’t worry. It was anger. Pure, animal anger." - Abhyankar, 11.

Judge, Dan Freeman said of Charlotte's tale:

"I loved the central idea, thought the story telling was excellent and some of the imagery was top class. I would like to read more!"

Twelve year old author, Katherine won the GoldStarCafe Young Author award with A Day to Remember, in which an elderly survivor of the WW2 concentration camps experiences a harrowing flashback:

"When Dorathy woke up she was in a small, grey room. There were two beds and a bowl of water on the floor. The beds were metal and had no covers on them. It was freezing cold. Her granny breathed a sigh of relief and ran to hug Dorathy. Dorathy hugged her back, trying to make sense of what happened. She realised she was in an isolation unit. There was a small window in the door, just small enough for Dorathy to see out of. There was a room full of showers down the dark corridor. Germans were walking round, collecting people to go into the showers. No one seemed aware of what was going to happen, but Dorathy and her granny knew. They were the only ones who wouldn't fall for it. If they went in that room they were going to die...

...They were getting closer the showers. Dorathy's granny picked up more strength and kicked the door closed. Gas started to flow down from the showers. Everything seemed to be in slow motion to Dorathy. She looked from a distance as families were dying inside the room. She took a few steps further. A mother was cradling her baby, even though it was obvious it was dead. Soon the mother was too. The room was filled with gas by now. All that was left was the few who were struggling for their lives, the rest were corpses lying on the floor." - Katherine, 12

Judge, Rachael Wing, a published author when she was only 14, explained why Katherine's story stood out as one in a thousand:

"I have chosen Katherine's A Day To Remember, because I felt that the story grabbed me straight away, and when I got to the end of the collection it was the one that I remembered the most."

What did the children think?
There was huge enthusiasm for the competition. Many children told us they took weeks to perfect their stories and did most of the work in their own time at home. Here's what GoldStarCafe member, Nicole thought about the experience:

“I had a lot of fun writing my story and reading other people's. I think the hot seats were great! They were really inspiring and it's unbelievable that Rachael wrote her book at 14 years old. That's just like a year older than me! I thought her book was awesome and I've read it like 10 times. I did take a lot of time with my entry. It took me about 3 to 4 hours to complete and I am really chuffed with it. The prizes are really amazing. It really motivates people knowing there is a big prize up for grabs and that they have a chance of winning even just for writing a story.” – Nicole, 13

And here Grieg gives an insight into the writer's mind:

"I thought the hotseats really helped because we got to know how real authors came about with their stories and how they started etc. Sometimes when I write stories, they just jump from the top of my head on to paper (or on to the keyboard) and then there are other times when it takes some time and thinking to create them. With my entry on this occasion I was quite impressed by how fast I thought it up and how I improvised my way through the story." – Greig, 13

What do children write about?
So what do children write about when given a free choice? Alyx Price, Group PR Director at Scholastic took a sample of 300 of the stories and analyzed the children's chosen themes. Here's the top 10 most mentioned story themes across the age range:

Well, parents feature heavily - their presence or their absence. Orphans are popular characters (is there some wishful thinking going on here?). Mum is a more popular character in their writing with 23% mentioning her specifically and only 7% mentioning Dad. Lots of kids like to write happy endings, but there's also a focus on death, anxiety and conflict with friends and siblings. There's still room for magic in kids' imaginations with 23% of primary children including magic in their stories, but this falls to 7% in the secondary children. Does the magic fade?

Imagination and talent
The competition created a huge buzz in SuperClubsPLUS and GoldStarCafe and Intuitive Media intends to feature more writing challenges in their communities. Scholastic UK were also delighted with the outcomes. Alyx Price said:

“This was a fantastic competition to run during the National Year of Reading; Intuitive Media and Scholastic were inspired by the December theme of ‘Write the Future’. The young people wrote about so many varied topics and I am really impressed with the imagination and talent that they have displayed. It was great to see how much they all enjoyed the challenge too. The stories were of such a high standard and I am sure that many of them will become authors or journalists in the future.”

The 2008 National Year of Reading is a year-long celebration of reading, in all its forms. It aims to help build a greater national passion for reading in England – for children, families and adult learners alike.

TEACHERS! - to see the Young Authors' stories, email Intuitive Media or call 0800 169 1024 for a free teacher account. Visit SuperClubsPLUS or GoldStarCafe and take the Tour.

Learning in the Family

2008-11-20T16:08:00.010Z

Learning in the Family Research Report

How do children learn with new technologies in the home? How do their parents and siblings get involved? Who helps whom, when, where and how? How could parents better help their children learn at home?

Supported by a Becta Research Grant to support the DCSF Harnessing Technology strategy, the Learning in the Family research focuses on children learning with their parents and other family members.

The UK Government's Children’s Plan suggests the next steps for improving children’s lives must be taken in partnership with parents and children and this is manifested in the Government’s £300m Home Access project which aims to provide computers and internet access to families to enhance learning at home. This research takes a timely look at how 4600 children currently learn with technology in the context of their families.

"It is clear from the research results that the Internet has gained a significant place in children's daily lives. Almost all of the children surveyed use the Internet at home with their parents. Their mothers are particularly engaged with their homework and formal learning and take an interest in their online safety. Fathers join in to a lesser extent but encourage children with the fun aspects and help them with their hobbies." - Learning in the Family, November 2008

Football Crazy

2008-11-19T17:39:00.007Z

One of the delights of online learning communities is the opportunity to bring to kids the best teachers in the world. Many of our students have an interest in writing AND an interest in sport and want to consider a career that combines both. Who better to learn from that a sports author, who worked his way up through the Football Association.

This month GoldStarCafe students welcomed author and sports Journalist Dan Freedman into the Hot Seat. Dan, previously editor for the Football Association, has published two books – The Kick Off and Shoot to Win.

Dan Freeman in the GoldStarCafe Hot Seat

During Dan’s Hot Seat, members of GoldStarCafe aged 11 to 16, asked him questions about his books, his experiences, what he reads, his writing and his career path. These are some examples of student questions and Dan’s responses;

Q: Dan, what inspired you to become an Author?
A: It was a combination. Partly the fact that I loved football and had so many experiences that I wanted to share, and partly the fact that I thought that it was important for there to be some new football books out there.

Q: When you were at school did you always want to be a writer and if you did, what kind of books did you read?
A: I actually never thought it was possible really...I always liked Roald Dahl's books and anything about football!

Q: As a sports journalist - Who is the most famous person you have interviewed?
A: Probably David Beckham. There aren't many more famous people than him. I also got to meet the Queen. Football has given me lots of fantastic experiences.

Dan's interviewers were studying for their GEM awards, in GoldStarCafe. These are linked to the new KS3 national curriculum. They develop children’s knowledge and skills by involving them in active learning tasks. With successful completion of each task, children earn a separate facet of a Gem badge for their GSC home pages. Tasks include creation of homepages and web rings (interest groups), writing articles, leading forums, and contributing actively with others in GoldStarCafe. To gain the Emerald Gem, pupils explore careers and enterprise. Participating in careers Hot Seats, counts towards their Gem Award and helps them understand a range of careers from people’s real experience. Amber (13) asked Dan:

Q: Was it tough getting into Journalism? Did you have to go to University for it? I really want to be a Journalist
A: It was tough. I started at the very bottom, making teas and coffees and doing the photocopying! If you have that desire and talent then people will soon want to keep you around the office. Going to uni certainly helps too if you are able to do that.

Amber later wrote about the Dan’s Hot Seat:

“The Hot Seat was absolutely fab. I loved talking to him because he is doing the job that I would like to do......Dan gave very informative answers and he inspired me to go on with my journalism/author work!”

GoldStarCafe Hot Seats guests have included, among others: best selling authors, a cosmologist, a Guardian Editor, a professional illustrator, a lawyer, multimedia designers, a human rights campaigner and a professional artist. Also representatives from charities, government and entrepreneurs. The diversity of background and occupations represented by Hot Seat guests, inspire young people to investigate a range of careers.

If you want your children to communicate and collaborate with many other inspired children – PHONE 0800 169 1024
Or Email: goldstarcafe@intuitivemedia.com.
Or take the Tour at www.GOLDSTARCAFE.net

A Gem of an Idea

2008-09-09T11:02:00.007+01:00

The new school year heralds the official launch of the new Gem Awards scheme in GoldStarCafe. The Gem Awards are informal online “courses” covering important curriculum and life skills. They offer sets of challenges which students can follow in their own order, whenever and however they wish, at school and at home.

The Gem Awards were trailed over the past year with over 3000 students across the UK and proved to be very popular with both students and teachers.

The students’ motivation is very high. It takes about eight hours work to win each award, but that’s not the only investment students make. To complete the awards they need to create dedicated Gems home pages, which they “buy” with Cafe Credits and they earn their Credits by contributing to the community – by helping other members, writing articles for online magazines or making useful forum entries.

Paige a twelve year old student from Northern Ireland has created a World Music home page about Irish harpist Aine Minogue, to win her Topaz Gem. The Topaz One World Gem is dedicated to world issues like Tackling Poverty, Fairtrade and Carbon Footprints.

Paige's World Music page

Paige had to research her musician and write about her biography, her instruments and her genre of music. You can see Paige has earned her Topaz (yellow) Gem along with four others by the display of colourful badges at the top of her home page.

The Gem Awards cover Citizenship, Global Issues, PSHE, Internet Safety, Literacy and Learning Skills. You’ll find full details of the learning outcomes and curriculum links in the GoldStarCafe Teachers Area. Here’s a short summary:

Life Style - Emerald Gem: Resisting Pressures, Health, Leisure, Managing Money, Getting Help, Career Choices
Citizenship - Sapphire Gem: Media in Society, Environment, Democracy, Human Rights, Cultural Issues, Conflict Resolution
One World - Topaz Gem: Tackling Poverty, World Music, Carbon Footprint, Fairtrade, Campaigning
Contributor - Zircon Gem: GolsStarCafe Skills, Helping Others, Behaviour, Active Community Participation, Community Management
Learning Skills Amethyst Gem: Independent Enquirer, Creative Thinker, Reflective Learner, Team Worker, Effective participator
Editing - Ruby Gem: Writing, Design, Photography, Research

A new ESafety - Diamond Gem is currently being designed in association with CEOP.

In GoldStarCafe the students can learn what, when and how they want, but that doesn’t mean their learning is intangible or un-trackable. The new Gems Awards stimulate and celebrate students’ informal learning - and they love it!

“GSC is fantastic! I really like doing gems, check out my sapphire environment page!” – SeanG

“I love the gems best on GSC. When I first joined in March, I found them really hard but now they are fun!” – RebeccaD

“Hey!! I know this sounds really strange, but I really want my sunflower to grow faster because I'm doing for Ruby 4! Sign my charter to help me with my gems - it's all about how much we love GSC! Thanks.” – MariE

So do the teachers:

“I am nearing the end of the Gems, I have really enjoyed the challenge.” – Gail Frost

GoldStarCafe is the safe social learning network provided by Intuitive Media for students 11-16 and their teachers, across the UK and around the world.

Teenage Cancer in the Hot Seat

2008-06-26T09:38:00.008+01:00

GoldStarCafe hosts regular Hot Seat forums for its young members, who can talk with experts and professionals in all fields, such as astronomers, artists or authors. The aim is to inspire young people to aspire, give them insight into real life careers and encourage inter-cultural understanding.

Hot Seats can also feature "ordinary" people who tackle difficult issues like childhood cancer so that GoldStarCafe members can learn how others meet their personal challenges.

Kelly Denver was treated for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma when she was 18 years old. She had 19 months of treatment, the latter part on a Teenage Cancer Trust Unit. Kelly strongly believes that the right environment and a positive mindset are essential to recovery. Now in remission, she teaches full time at a primary school and volunteers for the Teenage Cancer Trust in her spare time.

We put Kelly in the Hot Seat and thousands of young people from around the UK came to learn about her experience of cancer at such a young age. She answered over 100 questions and as Ken Dyson, (Ex Osfted ICT Inspector) said,

"I found it very inspiring and not a little moving. I thought the questions and responses were brilliant and underlined something that I have felt for a long time – that what does not kill you makes you grow!"

Here's an extract from the Hot Seat conversation:

What’s the first thing you did once you found out you had cancer?
I actually went to the cinema to see Castaway with my friends. I found really weird because I didn't want to tell any of my friends about it straight away, because I didn't know how I felt about it yet.

How did you get on with your education during the time you had cancer?
Luckily I was near the end of my A Levels so that school organised for me to do my exams at home and I had some extra time. I was still having treatment and couldn't really do any revision. In fact, in my written drama exam it took me 20 minutes to write a third of a page because I wasn't used to writing as I'd been so tired. I didn't get stressed about them and just did my best. I'm so glad that I did my exams though. Some hospitals have schools in them to help you but my school were fantastic!

What was it like having Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer when you were 18?
I didn't even know it was cancer. When they first told me, I told all my friends that it was okay, that I didn't have cancer. I didn't realise that young people could get cancer.

I bet you are so happy now you can have a happy life?
Yes, I appreciate my family and friends far more than I used to! I'm glad I had the experience in a way, as it has taught me a lot.

Hi Kelly! I just want to ask you, what was it like having cancer, and when you have cancer, don't you take chemo?
It was a really hard experience. You can have radiotherapy, surgery or chemotherapy, which is treatment with chemicals. They don't make you feel very well.

What was it like coping with teenage cancer?
It was very lonely because I didn't know anyone else who was going through what I was going through. My family were a fantastic support and I think the experience helped me to appreciate my youth and not want to grow up too fast.

What do you think about your career after having cancer?
I've always wanted to be a teacher and I think I can empathize quite well, especially with children. I like doing charity work for the Teenage Cancer Trust and I hope to work for them one day.

How did you feel when you found out you had cancer?
I felt isolated and scared when I found out. I didn't realise young people could get cancer. It took a while to get used to the idea, although I never thought I was going to die - I always thought I'd get better.

What was the feeling of relief like when you got the all clear?
It was like a big weight being lifted off my shoulders. I had to wait three years after my treatment finished before I was in what's called full remission, which means I had the all clear. I went out for a meal with my family to celebrate.

What stuff did you do for other cancer patients that you helped?
I helped to design the Teenage Cancer Trust unit in Sheffield at Weston Park Hospital to make sure it's a nice place to be when you don't feel very well. I've written articles about it, and I had a pen pal who was suffering from cancer. She didn't live near anyone else so I helped out by writing to her.

What do you like best about supporting Teenage Cancer Trust?
I've met some lovely, amazing people working for the TCT and I feel like it makes my experience worthwhile because I can help other people. I get to go to concerts and meet people like Coldplay and the Queen! I went to New York to represent the Teenage Cancer Trust and I've been on TV and radio too!

My mum had breast cancer and she had to have chemotherapy. Is chemotherapy where your hair comes out?
I'm sorry to hear about your mum. Not all types of chemotherapy make you lose your hair, but I had about 20 different types of drug and one of them did make my hair fall out.

If you could have changed the past whilst you were in hospital what would you have done?
The only thing I would change is to have had all my treatment on a Teenage Cancer unit. They are much nicer places to be than normal hospital wards and I would have met other patients my own age. Also my friends and family would have felt more comfortable visiting me.

How on earth did you get through this? My mum’s in hospital now, I haven’t been to see her. I am so scared.
Your mum would be so glad to see you. I hope you can build up the strength to go. Whilst you're building up to visiting you could write letters to give to your mum, telling her what you're doing. It was really important to me for people to come and see me because it gave me something to look forward to and to think about after they'd gone.

What advice would you give to someone who has just found out they have cancer?
Good question. There is no right way to deal with it, but I always stayed positive, it was my way of coping. Follow the doctors' advice, but make sure that you still see your friends and that you carry on being yourself. It's a frightening thing to go through but you don't have to do it alone. Contact charities like the TCT and find out about the services they can offer to make your treatment better - I've been to great events like concerts at the Albert Hall organized by them where I got to meet lots of other patients, and famous people too!

Did at any point, you think you were going to die? Has cancer changed your life big time?
I never thought that I was going to die because I decided that I had to fight it, it was my way of staying positive. Cancer has changed my life because it has shown me how strong I am and how much I can cope with. It has made me really appreciate my friends and family, and I try to remember that whenever I get upset.

Thanks Kelly for being our guest this evening! It has been fantastic and we've all really enjoyed talking to you.
I'm so glad that you all logged on to ask me questions. Cancer is thought of as a frightening topic but I think it is really important to talk about it as much as possible. I wish more people had talked about it with me. Thank you so much for all of your questions. Have a lovely summer and go and see the Teenage Cancer Trust website. Maybe you're doing school fairs and need a charity to raise money for (hint, hint)!! Take care and keep smiling. - Kelly

Common Sense Safety Tips

2008-06-03T10:48:00.004+01:00

Thanks to Google and Common Sense Media for an excellent no-nonsense video for families on how to keep your kids safe online.

For a quick safety guide for kids on social networks go here.

Related Feature

2008-04-30T15:05:00.003+01:00

The above article features related content

It’s Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

2008-04-30T13:19:00.009+01:00

Remote Learning with SuperClubsPLUS Mobile

Another great story from teacher James Blomfield and his pupil, Chris, explaining how using SuperClubsPLUS Mobile helps Mary Poppins child star keep up with his school work.

Watch the movie at Be Very Afraid III.

Chris: "My school gives me work to do on my Palm and it’s much easier than taking books and writing it down ‘cos I can just store it on here."

James: "Interestingly, one of the reasons we started with handhelds and wireless networks was because one of our pupils was in a London show, Mary Poppins, and his parents were very concerned that he was missing a lot of school work. Having the handheld device has meant that Chris can be part of the school when he's out of the school. He doesn’t feel so excluded because we can post him work online and keep tabs on his progress, so it’s made him and his parents feel more comfortable that he can keep up."

"Chris: The school work I'm sent is basically the work that we do in class but sometimes the tutor sends an extra bit because I do quite a lot of tutoring up there [London] and I normally finish most of it. And it’s also good in a way because it [the Palm] connects to the web and the school has SuperClubsPLUS and I can email my friends and teacher from up there."

- James Blomfield, Capel Le Ferne Primary School at Be Very Afraid III

Wow Words and Connectives

2008-04-30T13:16:00.007+01:00

Improving Writing Skills with Peer Tutoring

Teacher James Blomfield and his pupils visited Be Very Afraid III at Bafta to show their WW2 movie project and explain how using SuperClubsPLUS Mobile has helped their writing.

Watch the movie at Be Very Afraid III.

James says:

"In addition to higher order skills it’s encouraging creative thinking. For example, the children have been doing some collaborative writing using a secure online environment called SuperClubsPLUS.

They are writing science fiction stories, posting them up on the Internet, then getting their friends to send in their comments - positive and negative. So making positive suggestions like, "Maybe you should use more connectives, better sentence openers". It’s a peer learning effect where they are helping each other to raise the level and standard of their writing and that’s without me.

I started the project, but they are making it happen. We've been using hand held devices to enable and empower the children to walk around the school or to take the devices home and work from home. We found that giving children that capability has completely changed their relationship to the technology and to the course work.

So often, the problem for primary school kids especially year 5/6 when they are nine and ten years old, is that they have to wait at home - they're the last person to use the Internet after mum and dad and after older brothers and sisters doing their GCSEs. So giving them kit which enables them to connect to the Internet really transforms their ability to work."

- James Blomfield, Capel Le Ferne Primary School at Be Very Afraid III