A new set of Shambles Theme Blogs have sprung up over the past few months
with free videos and PowerPoints embedded ... see below for more details
or visit

| Brunei | Burma/Myanmar | Cambodia | China | Hong Kong | India | Indonesia | Japan | Laos | Macau | Malaysia |
| Philippines | Singapore | South Korea | Taiwan | Thailand | Vietnam |

I have to admit at being a little lazy recently with the Podcasts .... my new years resolution is to be more reliable ... you can now find them in the iTunes music store (free subscriptions of course)

"Shambles TECHcasts" : www.shamblesTECHcast.info          www.clickcaster.com/clickcast/rss/2847
Conversations with International Schools ICT Coordinators, Managers and Directors

"Shambles HEADcasts" : www.shamblesHEADcast.info          http://odeo.com/channel/124881/rss
Conversations with International Schools Headteachers and Principals

"Shambles ASIAcasts" : www.shamblesASIAcast.info          http://shambles.podOmatic.com/rss2.xml
Conversations with educators in S.E.Asia in private and public sectors ... and those supporting schools .. a mixed bag.

"Shambles LIBcasts" : www.shamblesLIBcast.info          http://odeo.com/channel/124901/rss
Conversations with librarians and media staff in International Schools in Asia

| Podcasting General Info | Podcast Directories | Podcast Hosting | Podcasting Tools (Hardware & Software) |
| ESL Podcasts | Podcasts by Students | Podcasting and Education |

Over the past year there has been a growth in Shambles of areas related to Social Networks and Virtual Worlds .... e.g.
| Virtual Environments | Social Networks (Web 2.0) | Second Life for Educators |

Second Life     www.secondlife.com
The summer of 2007 will be known, to me, as the summer I was reborn ... no, not a religious experience (well maybe it was) .... but a rebirth into a virtual environment .... yes ... I'm now well and truly in the 3D virtual world Second Life (SL) with the new name "Shamblesguru Voom" and a new head of hair ;-)

... and what a great learning experience it was (still is) with other SLers popping up all over the place offering to guide and help me through the experience whenever I needed it .... not only learning the skills but also with many of the ongoing debates focused on how SL can support teaching and learning.

To make it even more exciting, last summer, Second Life launched their 'voice' capability; previously individual communication was only text based using instant messaging (IM) and chat .... but now with a microphone and headset SLers can, in addition, talk to each other using voice if they wish to.

Two people I'd like to particularly thank who eased my pain was Takeme Homewood and KJ Hax (both these are their SL names ... not their real names).

KJ (aka .. Kevin) gives up his time above the call of duty helping others all over the place, and is one of the two people who started SLOLAR .... to provide learners with not only skills but somewhere to practice their skills and a community to facilitate the sharing of those skills with others. Kevin is a full time educator in real life (USA) .... I think I was lucky to catch him in the holidays.

Takeme (aka ... Jenny) I met while she was actually building a complete Island for someone and so I could watch how that grew over a few weeks .... since that time she has been a wonderful mentor on all things to do with the technical side of navigating around SL but more importantly with building skills and relevance to teaching and learning. She is not only a skilled builder but also an educator in the UK .... a powerful combination of attributes.

Jenny is available to help others on a commercial basis ..... so if you are an international school looking for a presence in SL , or wanting to give your staff CPD in SL .... or a supplier to schools looking for another strand to your marketing policy or to raising your profile then I can highly recommend Jenny.

I cannot help but think back to SARs a few years ago when many schools were closed for weeks across S.E.Asia .... it was a time when Int.Schs. boosted their efforts and budgets to grow their in-house LMS, CMS, VLE so that the schools could continue even though the students stayed at home. What a pity that Second Life was not available to the same sophistication as it is today ....

This 3D virtual environment would be a brilliant addition to supplement the schools present online learning platform (for students and staff) and at very little cost once set up (regular membership of S.L. is free).
But please note that there are a number of issues to consider, not the least is online health and safety .... but in most cases there are solutions to satisfy these worries.

Maybe something to consider for your schools Pandemic/Disaster Policy?

LEARNING 2.0 Beta      14-16 September 2007
Concordia International School, Pudong, Shanghai, China    www.ciss.com.cn
Well this is over and the 400+ educators returned home after a wonderful professional event ... a few pictures can be seen at http://flickr.com/photos/csmith/sets/72157600299557724/

The China organisers are pushing to keep the momentum going by using a Ning social network at http://learning2cn.ning.com/

... and what for the next academic year? ... it seems there is strong interest but you will need to wait to see if it is going to be repeated in Shanghai or another Asia city.

Web 2.0 Coming of Age www.shambles.net/web2/comingofage
The second edition of the Web 2.0 publication is still fermenting .... there is now a supporting social network at : http://comingofage.ning.com

Google for Educators Discussion Group http://groups.google.com/group/google-for-educators
We'll be using this group to keep you updated on Google's K-12 Education initiatives, but our real hope is that this will become the home of a vibrant community of educators.
We encourage you to use this space to start discussions with fellow teachers. Talk about anything you'd like. Share ideas about innovation in education; ask questions about where to find teaching resources; tell your colleagues about curricula you've created that have worked really well.

The Jaguar Cars Maths in Motion Challenge www.mathschallenge.co.uk/
This UK Schools challenge has been extended to include a school in New Zealand and they are looking to expand it to other overseas schools.
So please mention this to your Math(s) department ... an opportunity to take part in a virtual grand Prix race ... with lots of applied Maths being used.
More info at ... Car Maths in Motion | Press Release | contact Val Brooks | View Word doc 28KB |

Gateways to Understanding Symposium http://gatewaystounderstanding.com/Site/Home.html
June 20-24, 2008. Amsterdam
Arts-based and museum-based, this symposium involves addresses how to use your city’s cultural resources as the ultimate resource for your classroom. Led by Associate professor Dr. Lois Hetland – a Research Associate with Harvard University’s Project Zero, the program will provide a hands-on approach to arts-focused and interdisciplinary activities. A highlight includes access to the Van Gogh Museum.
This program is being organized by AMIS - Association of Music in International Schools.

Google Launches Chinese Language YouTube http://tw.youtube.com
This is really brilliant news for schools in Asia ... and especially language and social studies teachers .. a traditional Chinese script interface version of YouTube.
The Taiwan site features locally produced content, including that from YouTube's four Taiwan media partners, China Television Co., Sanlih E-Television Co., Lion Travel Service Co. and Taiwan Broadcasting System.
The Taiwan site is the eleventh localized site opened by YouTube. The company has also opened a Chinese-language site aimed at Hong Kong, as well as a Japanese site, and sites for France, Brazil, Spain and other countries.

Yahoo Teachers http://teachers.yahoo.com/
Yahoo! Teachers is free for all teachers, administrators, and education specialists. Yahoo! Teachers hasn't been released yet .... and they seem to be taking a long time in the development .... come on Yahoo .... pull out your exclamation mark ... lets see the site in action.

Bangkok Teachers Network http://www1.rism.ac.th/2005/ProjectEvents/BTN/index.asp
Conference Saturday 17th November 9:00-3:30 at Ruamrudee International School, Bangkok.
In 2006 over 300 educators from international schools in Bangkok and around the
country attended the first Bangkok Teachers Network Conference, and this year an
even larger turnout is expected.
WOW .. an impressive program ... another wonderful example of educators being proactive in taking control of their own continuing professional development.

The workshops I ran in Singapore last March were well attended (sigh of relief) you can see details at the Blog      http://singaporeworkshops.blogspot.com

I shall be in Singapore again in the near future running more public sessions on mainly Web 2.0 ... including blogging, podcasting, social networking.

Session are being coordinated again by the Singapore company, Synergyst who are also setting up some other events, not just web 2.0 ..
... see their website for details. www.synergyst.com

If schools or other organisations would like to use me during this (or other) visit then contact Cheng Fun at Synergyst chengfun@synergyst.com

Having a local Singapore coordinator for visits makes it much more cost effective for schools to use my time as some of the expenses are shared.

So if you are looking for support related to all aspects of ICT across the curriculum in k-12 and are in Singapore then this is another option for you. ePortfolio at www.shambles.net/csmith

For a list of some available workshops from Chris visit www.shambles.net/csmith/workshops

It would be appreciated if you could tell
colleagues about the Shambles newsletter

Here's some fun for students at the end of term ...
This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again
to see if you can outsmart your foot, but you can't, it's preprogrammed
in your brain!

1. Without anyone watching you and while sitting where
you are at your desk in front of your computer,
lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with
your right hand . .... Your foot will change direction.