One of the most consistently popular posts on this irregularly updated site of mine is about using timers in lessons. That post includes several timers that can be downloaded and used in the classroom.

Recently though the timer that I have actually been using regularly is from the website online-stopwatch.com.

The online-stopwatch site has a variety of stopwatches, countdown timers and clocks including chess clocks as well as an online calculator. The timers, which are written in flash, can be used within your web browser and they also offer downloadable versions of some of them.

My favourite is their main stopwatch and countdown timer.

Online-stopwatch has become my timer of choice in the classroom because of the simple uncluttered look and the ability to make it full screen. It has what I need without lots of extra features that just get in the way for day to day use.

There is also a new version in the pipeline, which is exactly the same, but looks a bit nicer.

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As teachers we tend to be hidden away in our own classrooms doing our own thing  a lot of the time. There are loads of great things that go on in lessons that our colleagues never get to hear about.

This is especially true in the effective use of technology in the classroom. Lots of us have tools that we use and we should be looking to share our ideas, things that have work and that haven’t, with each other. Initially this should happen with our closest colleagues in the departments we are based in, then it should extend across the whole school or college.

But even if we are sharing good practice effectively within our institution, unless we are seeking dialogue with our colleagues around the country and even in other parts of the world, then we are missing out on a wealth of knowledge and experience. The aim of this website is to do a little bit of that, to draw peoples attention to some of the tools that are out there and hopefully build some connections with people who are innovating and developing wise ways of using technology to enhance teaching and learning.

There are hundreds if not thousands of teachers around the world who now record some of their ideas on blogs and websites. This is a vast (and slightly daunting) resource that we should be trying to tap into. A good place to start is with some of the best established British teacher bloggers (or edubloggers to use the term that has sprung up to describe them). Another place to look is on the blogging site edublogs.org where you will find loads of teacher authored blogs.

Here are a few places you could look to get started (after looking round this site of course)

• Dougbelshaw.com – A history and e-learning staff tutor in the UK
• edtechroundup.com – conversations about using technology in education
• joedale.typepad.com – Integrating technology into the MFL classroom

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