Welcome to Oracle ’ s Think.com Training Workshop October 2005

A global hosted web application for primary & secondary schools Oracle Think.com

HISTORY England Wales USA Denmark Egypt, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland Northern Ireland Chile, NZ Thailand China South Africa, Germany Oracle ’ s CEO, Larry Ellison begins work with Tony Blair and Oracle web developers to build Think.com In 1998 the UK government set a goal for all students to have an account by 2002

Big Picture Web-based Protected Collaborative FREE!!

An opportunity to … Communicate Collaborate Cultural sharing Learn from each other Students in IrelandStudents in South Africa

What is Think.com? Think.com is: Free web pages and accounts for everyone in a your school There are 4 main areas: My Website People Groups

My Website Each Think.com user has personal webspace, My Website for students and My Class Site for teachers. Building web pages in Think.com is as easy as:

All Think.com students receive a password protected account, which cannot be spammed. External can be enabled or disabled. If enabled, the Address Book can be viewed by the teacher.

People The People Portal highlights who is currently online from: Your buddy list Your teacher list Your school, and The world of Think.com Visit someone and leave a Sticky

Groups Groups are online learning environments where members can share ideas about:  a subject of interest or  work together on a project Groups allow collaboration to flourish – within the classroom, the school and the world of Think.com. Create a group in:  Classroom Activities  Arts & Entertainment  News & Events  Sports & Hobbies OPEN Assigned WORLD

…. to recap …  Think.com is a free website  Housed in a protected environment  Giving webspace and to students and teachers  Consisting of 4 main areas

2 Systems There are 2 versions of Think.com - Live System – for students and teachers Try System – used by Training Organisations to deliver training

Username = First Initial + Family name + + JMPS Example: JSMITH.JMPS Password = minimum 6 characters (mix of letters and numbers) Example: 85cloud23 Accounts Type of Accounts:- Student Teacher Teacher Admin (Admin) Your Login :

“It’s a cool way to make friends, share information and yet learn so much.” “I love to receive those stickies of appreciation.” “At last I learn the way I want to. Can debate, disagree, dispute and convince without fear.” “I have so many new friends. It feels great to interact on issues with them.” “My teacher’s web site is so informative. She would never tell us all that in class.” Student Comments

Communication Sticky

Features & Benefits  Your Own Site: Individual identity - students show an increase in confidence when they are provided an interactive environment to showcase their work.  Easy to Use: Teachers and students benefit from the user-friendly interface, producing online projects in a short amount of time. It is easy to create engaging and interactive web pages in Think.com.  Private Site: Students and teachers can only obtain accounts through their local schools. The involvement of each member school encourages responsible online conduct by ensuring that every user is identifiable.  Latest Technology: contributions of text, images, video and audio give students great flexibility to create a space that is unique.

In closing …  Feedback …  Subconscious use of technology Feedback from Ms Zoya Naidoo, teacher at John Mitchell Primary School in Jeppestown, which mainly services students from Soweto: “Think.com has changed the lives of John Mitchell School learners. Not only are they learning valuable computer skills invaluable in today's society, they have access to a free protected site that allows them to interact with learners in the "WORLDroom“. In this way we are able to teach computer skills within the context of what they are learning, thus making it more meaningful as is the OBE way. As an educator, I’m really thrilled with the way the computer skill has become something learned incidentally - Great lessons usually are.”

Let’s now take a look at Think.com….. Thanks for listening !