Interactive whiteboard. Smart Technologies SmartBoard, from pound;1,000. www.matrixdisplay.com

Presentation device reseller Matrix Display Systems donated a SmartBoard to Mere Oaks School for Bob to use in his arts classes. Until Bob took delivery of the whiteboard, students who had disabilities were unable to explore fully their artistic talents using the more traditional art tools, such as paintbrushes.

Computer

Apple iMac, from pound;649. www.apple.com

Bob’s iMac computer was donated to the school as part of Becta’s digital video project.

Movie camera

Canon, from pound;700. www.canon-europa.com

Bob’s camera was donated to the school as part of Becta’s digital video programme.

Digital camera

Fuji FinePix, from pound;450. www.fujifilm.com

Mere Oaks Support Association, a group made up of parents, governors and friends of the school, found the funds for Bob to invest in two Fuji digital cameras for his expressive arts classes.

Software

Software for the whiteboard. Adobe Photoshop www.adobe.com.

Corel Painter Classic. www.corel.com

Bob makes extensive use of Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter Classic. Photoshop provides students with professional image-editing, drawing and painting tools and Painter Classic is used on the whiteboard. Bob also uses Microsoft’s Windows Paint and products by Dazzle.

Software for the iMac

iMovie. www.apple.comimovie

Bob uses Apple’s iMovie software on his iMac. This package, which comes with the computer, is easy to use and allows students to create tightly edited digital videos. The students love the special sound effects that come with the software, including gun shots and a cat’s meow.

Websites

Bob says he does not use many websites, claiming instead that imaginative teaching is the main reason for his exciting classes: “I don’t think that I have any particular ICT skills, but what I do try to do is think creatively around the resources that I have.”

His favourite websites are:

National Gallery: Bob uses this site for its bookshop, which covers practically every Western artist plus specific themes that he wishes to focus on in his classes. He also uses the site to introduce his students to particular artists that produce work similar to their own.

www.nationalgallery.org.uk

British Film Institute: Bob says the BFI website has been an invaluable tool for creating his digital video classes. The site is stuffed with classroom resources, from information on current films to clips and sound-bites. Its teachers’ centre is particularly helpful and Bob says that educators can email the organisation for technical support.

www.bfi.org.uk

Media Ed: Media Education in the UK is designed for use by students and teachers alike. It contains interesting and detailed guidelines for teachers to use as reference points when developing digital video classes, from storyboard planning to editing on Mac computers.www.mediaed.org.uk Film Education: Bob raids this website for free film CD-Roms that contain related film study clips from movies such as The Quiet American. The site contains a wealth of information on just about every film imaginable.

www.filmeducation.org

Becta: Becta’s website supplies online teaching projects, many resource pages and newsletters covering every aspect of technology, says Bob. Becta’s main homepage has links to wherever you want to go, but for those interested in inclusion and special needs, go to Becta’s inclusion website that also contains advice on teaching with ICT.

www.becta.org.ukinclusion

www.becta.org.ukindex.cfm.