Over the past week I have been using Open Office instead of MicroSoft Office.

Open Office isn’t much different to MicroSoft Office. One of the key differences is that Open Office is Open Source. This is quite a nice feature as you can edit and change the software to your liking. As the software is Open Source it is free which is always a bonus.

The layout of Open Office is very similar to that of MicroSoft Office. The only difference that stands out are the icons and colour scheme. I really like the icons as they are quirky and bright and it makes Open Office more eye-catching. The icons are bold and you can clearly see what they are intended to represent. The colour scheme different shades of grey and it is alot nicer than the colour scheme of MircoSoft Office.

There are quite alot of extra features to in Open Office. There is a really cool feature that allows you to export you document directly as a PDF. This saves alot of time as it saves using online PDF creators. Another feature I particularly like is the gallery icon. This icon takes you to lots of various backgrounds that your document can have. It also takes you to a choice of different bullet points, themes, sounds, rulers and useful images.

I really like using Open Office as it makes a change from using Microsoft Office. I would highly recommend Open Office to anyone who feels they could benefit from a alternative to Microsoft Office. After all Open Office is free!

In IT, Year 7 have been using the software GIMP to create a new, student friendly logo for the school VLE. There was a competition for the best logo which would then go on the VLE with the runners ups logo along side the winners.

We had 1 lesson to create, modify, plan and improve a logo using GIMP. There are a wide range of tools to use from smudging and watering down to swirling and 3D effects. With the help our IT Teachers each of us created a logo and then made it better, and better, and better until they were perfect.  We then all rushed around the class room comparing logos.

 The lesson was fun, educational and it benefited the school VLE. It was extremly successful

Lost in the deep world of Hamble Games Selector, SWINE is a vehicle based strategy game. Two teams, Pigs and Rabbits battle it out mercilessly with a variety of tactical vehicles, including Artillery, Scout vehicles and several types of tank. Exclusive fictional vehicles include Mole tanks, which can burrow into the ground during combat to become a harder target or be used as a turret. Other models include the Big Bertha, which is basicly a machine that fires Nukes and moves. Pretty lethal.

 At DMGC we all love to play 4v4 Lan games, it’s a real laugh.

Gimp is a free piece of software that allows you to edit images and create your own. Gimp is free to download from the internet and is safe to use.

Gimp is o.k as far as free software goes but photoshop is a lot better in my opinion (but a lot more expensive too). Photoshop allows you to have more control over what you do and create better images. Out of both photoshop and G.I.M.P I reccomend using photoshop. Gimp has a lot of the same features as photoshop but photoshop is

• easier to use
• has some extra features
• easier to create better quality images
• has a more proffesional look

Photoshop should be used in schools for ICT lessons. So far, we use it in only graphics lessons and for ICT we use gimp. Hopefully, we will soon be able to use photoshop in ICT as well.

Flash Game Selector other know as FGS for short is an @ Hamble College resource. It is a load of fun games for students to play on the computers instead of being out side cold and making a lot of noise in the corridors. It has a region of games from action to brain storm and construction. It is lots of fun and there are over 50 different games on there with about 6 or 7 categories….

Powder Toy is a game, it is on our ‘Flash Games’ selector at school, for all to use. It involves selecting different elements and mixing them; all too commonly creating explosions and large amounts of virtual fire.

Personally I think our Flash Games selector is very good. It offers a wide variety of non-violent free games. Try searching ‘Learn to fly’ online. I also love this game. (Of course you will enjoy it as much as we do)

I think it is important to have some games at school, otherwise the children just think ‘IT endless work)

Combined post from two authors.

At Hamble Community Sports College we have a  VLE  which is the hompage for ecery student and teacher at school.  VLE stands for Virtual Learning Environment. In basic terms it is a base for everything students and teachers need for school. For instance, lesson resouces, lesson courses,  important data throughtout the year, homework as well as links to useful websites. This isnt all the great features of a VLE.  You can access almost anything that is useful to students and teachers. I highly recomend to all schools to create a VLE. If your interested check out Moodle as it is the starting point of the VLE.

Last week, myself and four other Digital Leaders (Victoria, Ashwin, Elliot, James) made up an panel to interview one of the new possible Heads of ICT. Together we devised a set of questions that we were going to ask out interviewee; Mr Fakhoury.

Being part of an interview panel was a great experience. It was nice being part of choosing our new Head of ICT. Being able to come up with our own questions was really good as it helped all of the panel see if our interviewee appealed to us as students / learners.

Our positive feedback on Mr Fakhoury helped towards his appointment. On behalf of the panel, DLs, ICT Department and school, congratulations is in order for Mr Fakhoury; the new Head of ICT.

View point 2

About a week ago, a couple of Digital Leaders and we interviewed a potential new head of I.T. We had never done anything quite this serious, and were quite shocked at the fact that we would be having an input. We asked our candidate a variety of different questions and soon both realised that he was very interested in technology and had been for many years. He seemed very fair and we all liked his personality and he had a extremely positive attitude. After he left the room, our interview panel came to the verdict that he would be a very positive candidate for the post and we would recommend his appointment. Candidate then went on for some further interviewing. We found out later that week that our candidate was successful, and we were pleased with the outcome.

Digital Leaders are a group of  students based within IT at schol. They help teachers and students, during lessons or after school and even on INSET days. We have our own netbooks to use in class which helps alot, for either when we or our classmates are stuck with the work or sometimes when teachers need information. We also get teacher privilages which allows us to edit the school VLE and lead the development on the netbooks themselves. All in all, its a lot of fun.

The Digital Leaders are a relatively small, school formed group of young talented individuals within multimedia journalism. We have covered non-college events such as HIAS and OSS, and college events such as school sports week and all PSRE days. So, why would you want to be a digital leader? Well, being a digital leader presents you with unique opportunities and invaluable experience.

 One Digital Leader quotes ‘ I like being a Digital Leader because I have a say in what goes on within the IT around the school. I like the fact that i can help shape the future of IT within our school and I it’s great to be able to learn new skills such as filming, photography, bloggin and many more. Being a Digital Leader is a great opportunity.

During the cold winter months most of the students who would usually be blocking the corridors and making a personal hell for the cleaners are suddenly no longer there, ‘Why?’ I hear you ask. The Flash Games Selector (FGS) is an amazing collection of different types of games. From adventure to physics and even mechanics. There is something for everyone. It a brilliant way to occupy students  and keep you entertained and away from making a mess in the classrooms and corridors. I highly recommend a FGS  for all schools everywhere! See our very own Mr Sangster for game links and expert gaming knowledge!