So, as an experiment I introduced my form group (year 8) to QnA during a PSE lesson.  I tried to give them some guidelines and set them off questioning and answering.  Initially, I was quite disappointed with the majority of the questions in terms of the lack of thought and some silliness.  However, some took it seriously, and others found it fascinating and began to answer as many questions as they could in order to build up their reputation and improve their score.

I was concerned that the team at QnA would be slightly hacked off with this sudden influx of school girls asking some inappropriate questions and tagging everything with the mysterious “shr”, so, I got in touch.  However it turns out that they are “thrilled” for us to be using it in this way and they are really keen to work with us to develop QnA to make it really accessible to schools and classes.

What I would really like to see QnA develop is the possiblity of creating custom groups so that we can have an shr league in order for the pupils to see how they are doing against each other.

I think that this has huge educational potential.  Pupils have the opportunity to ask a question regarding their school work and the whole world wide community can provide answers.  The best answer for a question can be voted for and this will mean a consideration of several different answers and viewpoints before making a choice.  Added to this, pupils can provide answers for others and their answer could be voted the best which will boost their reputation and points.  An interesting aside for teachers – what if your answer isn’t voted the best and a pupil is able to provide a more succinct, relevant and knowledgable answer…. 

Clever use of tags could also provide interaction between schools.  If all pupils in shropshire schools tagged their questions with shropschool then pupils covering similar work in different establishments could assist each other with their learning.

Any other thoughts?

If you need more practice go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

What do you think about the typing tutor?

Both business cards and tickets contain important information that needs to be displayed in a small or limited area.  Below are some items that could be included on a business card, a ticket or both.

date, phone number, address, email, time, web address, venue, logo, seat number, performance name, fax number, slogan, seating area, job title, company/organisation name, price, person's name

1. Create a new comment and then copy and paste the list above.  Next to each item put either a b (business card), t (ticket) or both to indicate where the information should appear.
2. Next, if you think an item is essential, write must next to it.

When you post a comment use your initials and your year as your name.

E.g. For John Smith in year 9 use JS9