Airborne calamities and using NearPod for engaging lessons

Another month, another good month of flying (sort of) and learning technology.

Let's kick off with the flying stuff

Airborne calamities

One of the fundamental rules of being (or learning to be) a pilot is to take full responsibility for your aircraft and the safety of those who fly in it (including yourself). Throughout your PPL you are drilled in the practice of doing a the walk-around to ensure everything is where it should be and functioning correctly. Only after that, do you start your internal checks.

So.... on a fateful Saturday afternoon, I am scheduled to fly solo to Cambridge from Southend. Flight planning done, booked out and ready to go. My instructor ran through the pre-flight and confirmed that the plane had been checked over. I naively hopped in and started my internal checks and set off. Taxi and take-off clearances given, I began my climb on to heading only to notice after 5 minutes a banging sound coming from outside the cockpit. Engine temps and pressures seemed ok and running smooth and flying controls seemed responsive. There were no visual signs of where the sound was coming from.

Nevertheless, disturbed by the sound, I put in a request to turn back to the airfield. On my approach I noticed two fire engines waiting for me at the hold! At this point I was starting to think something was wrong with my landing gear or perhaps there was a fire that I couldn't see. I continued the approach and landed safely. On arrival back to the club house the fire crew checked to see if I was OK and my instructor rushed out only to embarrassingly find that he had left the seat belt (harness) shut in the passenger door from his previous flight. I would have noticed it had I done a walk-around. So moral of this story is always take full responsibility for your own flight safety - don't learn the hard and rather embarrassing way.

To cap it off, I caught it all on a GoPro camera:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10204442498281207&l=6464589029076382888 

Following the ordeal (yes I am laying it on a bit thick), I got back in the cockpit a week later....and made it to Cambridge. I was also very fortunate to taxi out behind the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight!

Dakota @ EGMC

Cambridge airport (International apparently) on the nose

Lance

Nearpod for engaging lessons

Recently, I have delivered a lot of training in assistive tools i.e. providing access to learning for students with both diagnosed and undiagnosed learning difficulties through digital technology. One root cause of learner struggles is the didactic method of teaching that we are all to familiar with. So how do you pass control to the learner? How do you engage those who do not have the confidence to ask or contribute in class?

A few months back I came across a great tool called Nearpod. This is an online lesson authoring kit where you can embed PowePoints and sandwich slides with interactivity e.g. polls, open questions, drawing/annotation and lots more. 

When you have created your lesson you can then use it synchronously with your students in the classroom or remotely. They access the lesson either through an app on their device or via the website. To join the live session, you provide them with a simple passcode.

Once they are in, you can control the pace of the lesson or give control to them to manage it at their own. In addition, you can also share the lesson via email, social media or just put the link on your VLE for students to access for reflection and revision.

The thing I love about this is that it is seamless across all devices and gives your learners the choice of how they want to access learning. If they do not have a smartphone or tablet they can still join in from a normal PC or laptop through the Nearpod website.

I would strongly recommend this tool for anyone who wants to become more innovative in their delivery. For the purposes of the FELTAG report recommendations, this might be a quick and easy way of creating online course content and bringing those PowerPoints to life....and it's FREE!!!!

Don't just read my drivel....watch the vid:

http://player.vimeo.com/video/95197111?autoplay=1&api=1

Balancing attitude and power for the best approach

On my last flight, I experienced my first short field landing at Earls Colne. I was very apprehensive due to the fact that the joining pattern and radio telephony sequence was very different to usual. There are no air traffic control clearances - just a guy in a shed on the ground with a radio transmitter who tells you what runway to use and whether it is windy or not. The rest is at your discretion. At the back of my mind was the landing - a short grass strip. Would I put her down safely or put it in a hedge at the end???

Thankfully, as a result of the great instruction I have received throughout the duration of my PPL, I remembered the simple rule - "Attitude for speed, power for rate of descent".

What this means to non-aviators is that when on a landing approach, you control the speed of the plane with the pitch angle of the pane e.g. nose up/down and you control the steepness of your approach with power i.e. not enough power will mean you fall short of runway, too much means you will probably overshoot.

Applying this principle, I managed to control the plane into a stabilised slow approach into Earls Colne. After wiping the sweat from my brow, my instructor and I popped into to see the said man in the shed to pay our landing fees and then relaxed for a short break before flying back.

Over the River Crouch

On way back to Southend (Thames on the nose)

Earls Colne Airfield

Next trip: Solo navigation to Cambridge.

Lesson planning with popplet

It has been a very long time since my last post on here. I have decided to return to blogging for two reasons. Firstly I have rekindled my flight training this year and I am also in a new job where I can explore my second passion - learning technology. Both of which I want to share my experiences of with those who show an interest.

There are several great online tools that can be repurposed for learning and teaching. My current affection lies with Popplet.

Popplet on first look seems to be a simple mind-mapping tool. As you start to delve into its features it is an incredibly intuitive tool that can serve lots of uses either in or beyond the classroom.

So what is Popplet?

In my view you make it be what you want it to be. The developers' definition is as follows:

In the classroom and at home, students use Popplet for learning. Used as a mind-map, Popplet helps students think and learn visually. Students can capture facts, thoughts, and images and learn to create relationships between them.

I delivered a training session to a colleague on the use of interactive whiteboards. In preparation for the session, I was really having to dig deep to think of new innovative ways to extend the use of the IWB beyond creating drag and drop activities or presenting powerpoints. Then I came across Popplet.

You start by creating a 'popple'.This is box which could contain a statement, question, a picture or a video. You can then start to capture your ideas around that particular subject in other popples that link together. One of the great user features is drawing tool. If you are working from a PC or laptop you can use your mouse cursor to draw a picture or write something.

If you are using an interactive whiteboard you can use one of the pens supplied with the board to draw or write in the popple too. So, altogether you have a nice blend of media and tools that you can bring into your popple board to help students develop their understanding around the topic you are teaching. What's more is they can reflect upon in following the lesson if provided with the direct link to your popplet.

If students have access to an internet enabled device in class, they can also contribute their thoughts to the popplet by providing them with a direct link (there is an app too).

Below is an example of a Popplet I have been playing with. As you can see I have incorporated a drawing that highlights the effect of cross wind on landing, a video example and a picture of a graph which enables pilots to determine crosswind factors - a small lesson rolled into one!

Ideas for teaching 

1. You could spend the first part of your session delivering the foundations of that particular topic and then encourage students to expand or challenge your ideas through doing some of their own research online and constructing their thoughts within your popplet.

2. I think Popplet is a really simple way of putting a lesson plan together. You start with the topic you plan to teach as your central popple - sometimes it might be a controversial video that will spark debate. Then around this you can start to create other popples that contain questions that you might want to challenge your pupils with or classroom research/group work activities, from which the outcomes are shared in the popplet.

3. I'm not one for splurging buzz terms too lightly around but.... hey, what about the flipped classroom. Why not get your students to independently (or in groups) research a topic or question that you plan to cover in your next lesson and put their ideas together in a Popplet. This will provide you some insight of what they understand and what you might have to build on with them in your lesson.

These are just my thoughts - I'll leave it up to you guys who are at the coal-face everyday to come up with some creative uses for this nice little tool. I have created a Popplet here for you to contribute your ideas on how you might use or already use Popplet in your teaching. If you would like to contribute please send me your Popplet ID or email address and I'll add you.

Online gaming - friend or foe?

Being a geeky technologist I have always kept abreast of new technologies, primarily those intended for learning. However, one area that I have only dipped my toe into until now is online gaming. I have had experience of using SecondLife and I remember in my university days, my mate in halls roping me in for 2 days playing a strategy game called Rise of Nations - I did not eat sleep or wash in that time. Back in 2003 however, I remember being mesmerised by the fact I could play a game with someone else over the internet, even though it wasn't really a new concept then.

Anyway 9 years on and my partner decides to buy my affection by purchasing an Xbox 360. Seriously..dangerous move. It is so easy to get connected to online gaming - almost effortless. Within minutes you are immersed in amazing gameplay, with limitless depth it seems as a result of a non-linear free for all that is online multiplayer. It is dangerous, because time just seems to elapse and before you know it the sun has risen and fallen and you are still sitting around in your pants, nothing achieved but the satisfaction of scoring more points in your last multiplayer deathmatch (depending on what game you are playing of course). Putting the negatives of computer gaming on young health and development aside, I was amazed and a little embarrassed by firstly having my ass whooped, but secondly and more importantly by a lad probably no more than a third of my age, as they chuckle and taunt down their microphone enabled headset.

However, I did take away positives in the context of using this technology for learning. Going around shooting people in an online game is good mindless fun, but not completely mindless. I was astounded that groups of what seems to be online friends or squads working together and really well thought out strategies and pincer movements that even Patton would have been proud of. So while many discredit computer games for playing a part in the downfall of our modern youth, actually, if you can harness and engage their attention through online gaming to achieve learning outcomes what is the problem? Why not develop online gaming that has hidden educational goals? Creating online environments where pupils and students have to work together in real-time to solve problems or achieve common goals? Ultimately that is what our industry wants, no? People who can communicate, teamwork, lead others etc?

 One slight issue though - teachers will need more power to restrain pupils in the event of this happening..
 

Plane spotting not my bag it seems

After all the hideous weather we have been having in June recently, it seemed as though the sun made a special appearance for my flying lesson.

Arriving 5 mins early I had to wait another 10 mins to wait for my instructor to fly in. Upon his arrival, we had a quick brief and then headed out to AF to start up and make initial contact.

With clearances obtained I taxied up to holding point A1 for take-off on runway 24 - or so I hoped. Just as I get all excited about takeoff, 2 easyjets and some other Irish airline decides they want to land at once - 20 mins wasted on the tarmac waiting for airliners.

Finally after take-off clearance I get to squeeze 2 circuits in with my instructor with 2 reasonable landings. Then instructor hops out back at the clubhouse and then I continue solo.

Having got my clearance, I take off into first circuit and get quick clearance to land for a stop-and-go (that means landing, exit runway and loop back round to the holding point ready for takeoff again). However, this is where the real frustration starts...

Having landed beautifully (if I do say so myself) the controller asks me to come of the runway quickly, at a rarely used taxiway, to make way for one of the easyjets looking to depart - fine - if they are quick - and to be fair they were quite quick about it.

After 10 mins passing, another easyjet decides that it wants to take off. Instead of ensuring it has its clearances before lining up to take-off, it ends up sitting at the end of the runway waiting for these clearances which it wasn't likely to get for the next 25 mins - who knows why?? So that means nothing else can take off out of southend including me. Which means I'm left sitting at my holding point waiting to take off, sweating my tits off because the engine is starting to get hot just sitting on the tarmac.

Eventually the controller contacts me and asks 'What do you want to do?' To which I replied 'I'll just call it a day and head back to the clubhouse' - which I did to find my instructor looking just as pissed off as me at the situation. To add matters worse I end up paying a fortune for a lesson that I spent most of on the tarmac. Check the vid!

Augmented reality - do we need technology to make reality better?

Augmented reality is not a new concept by any means - it has just evolved and is more accessible to the masses. For those of you who drive a Toyota Prius, you will have already experienced the rear view parking camera that helps you identify the correct angle to back into a space by overlaying digital angled lines over the camera view.

This is what augmented reality is - taking what we see through our own eyes and adding a digital layer to enrich our experience or change the way in which we do things.

Is there anything wrong with this? Well no, not essentially, but it does make life far too easy for us. Let's take for example layar, a mobile app that enables you to access a range of AR tools, some of which include a restaurant finder. This works by tracking your exact location via your phone's GPS and then layering digital information through your phones camera. This enables the user to use their phone on the camera to navigate to local restaurants as they are walking along using their camera as a viewfinder. See example below that I have taken from my desk - it shows that the nearest restaurant in that exact direction is a rather nice local Indian.

Don't get me wrong this is really cool, but what ever happened to the old fashioned method of stumbling upon a great restaurant by accident. What about when you are on holiday and you try to find the nearest bureau du change - ok at the time it is annoying having to march the streets to find it without AR or a map, but 2 weeks down the line it will make an amusing holiday anecdote.

In my view I think the technology is incredibly impressive, but I think we need to keep it at arms length to allow us to develop the skills and experiences we require as humans such as navigation and being spontaneous.

However, I have come across one really cool tool that enables you to create your own augmented reality masterpieces - called Auras.

A developer under the name of Aurasma has developed a fantastic app that enables you to add digital layers eg. pictures, moving images or animations to any 2D or static image. I can see a real use for this in enhancing marketing materials. My colleague is currently developing an Aura that enables users to scan an image of a person in our marketing literature, which then comes to life as a talking head to provide more depth to the information provided in print.

I would suggest if you have some spare time, have a play with this app it is truly cool.

First solo flight

I'm not one for sharing everything about my life on social media but I like to share interesting things.

One of my passions is flying and I am currently studying towards obtaining my PPL.

I conducted my first solo flight at the beginning of the month which was one of the most rewarding experiences ever. Having racked up around 15 hours flight time, my instructor thought it would be a good idea to let me loose in a plane.

So when arrived I was briefed on my solo and what to expect and what to do if all goes horribly wrong - thankfully it didn't.

After the brief, I did the usual once around the plane checks and then we hopped in, checked out with the tower and then took off.

Mid-way into my first circuit, 3 sleazyjet planes decide that they all want to land one after the other which meant that I had to orbit the airport for 15 mins before I could continue my landing/takeoff circuit. Once they had landed I then had to take an extended approach due to the wake turbulence caused by the jets.

On the first circuit, I was troubled with moderate crosswinds which made landing tricky and consequently my 2 further landings weren't brilliant. Also, on takeoff into my 2nd circuit my door flew open at 400ft so I was glad the instructor was on hand to help out and grab the controls so I could prevent myself plunging to my miserable demise.

After the 3rd circuit my instructor hopped out and said "off-you go!". So I did, although as I started to taxi towards the runway I got that feeling you get when you first learn to drive and you try to over-analyse everything you are doing with your feet and arms. Consequently I started off all over the place but when I composed myself I was fine. Perfect straight and smooth take-off on runway 06, up over Rochford and Stambridge into a nice clear circuit @1000ft, no sleazyjets or any other traffic. Then a turn onto base and then final approach culminating in a perfectly straight and smooth landing back onto runway 06.

Karma is a wonderful thing though - as I landed there was a EasyJet 737 waiting at the hold to taxi onto the runway - and I was delaying its departure :-) brilliant.

I was then cleared to vacate the runway and hold behind another boeing 737 whose jet engines caused my plane to swing in the wind a bit. Then taxi back to the flying club where my rather relieved instructor was waiting for me. An amazing experience and really excited about racking up some more solo hours.

Good ole Lima Whiskey for getting me back down to the ground safely

Pictures do not do it justice - taken on the father's mobile phone through chicken wire. The next post will have better photos!