Newsletters and its use

Hi again!

In this post I'm going to write about Newsletters and their use.

Newsletters is a subscription you have with a given group or web, and from which you receive notifications and pieces of news every given time (such as once a week or once a month, for example). In this sense, if you decide to subscribe to get the latest news about badminton or handball or running shoes, you could look for a community, web or blog that publish new information every now and then, and if you are subscribed, you'll get a notification when something is published in that page.

I'm going to provide an example in order to make it clearer. For example,  I'm subscribed to a very interesting page: Consumer Eroski Newsletter. As a result, I received a very interesting piece of news that I will use in my PE lessons:

Dieta saludable y deporte: dos aliados para el bienestar psicológico - See more at: http://www.consumer.es/web/es/alimentacion/aprender_a_comer_bien/deporte/2017/01/16/224707.php#sthash.tekEvBLm.dpuf

 Dieta saludable y deporte: dos aliados para el bienestar psicológico

I find this piece of news very useful because it will allow me to work with my students some contents of the unit of nutrition, health and physycal activity. One of the objetives of physical education is to help students understand and value the importance of leading a healthy life, since they are ultimately responsible of their health status. And when they are in high-school, they are exposed to a number of unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking, and eating junk food. This is the reason why using this publication as a compulsory reading in class, and then organising a debate in class dealing with its implications and providing personal experiences and examples may help the class understood better the importance of having good habits, including doing physical activities at least 3 times a week and eating healthy.

Hope you have enjoyed this post, see you soon!
Angel

My favourite apps for PE

Hi again!

In this post I'm going to describe the most interesting tools and apps to use in my PE lessons from the ones I shared with you in the last post!

So, here you go!

My favourite App

From my point of view, I really love the Kahoot! app. It is a very interesting tool, because it allows me to check the knowledge of  my students in a very funny way. This app allows me to create a deck of questions (I create the questions and answers, so I can adapt the game to the level of my students), and students really enjoy it because it is like a trivial game! The apps show you a question and 4 answers, and students need to quickly choose an answer. And the program constantly shows publicly how everyone is doing and motivates them to do better. It's just great!

My favourite lesson plan for printing

My favourite lesson plan for printing is this orientation lesson. I love it so much because it is such a different and original lesson, which not only explains the main points of the theory of the topic, but also provides some practical applications and activities. It is indeed a very useful lesson plan!

My favourite lesson plan for whiteboard

My favourite lesson plan for whiteboard is this Acrosport presentation. Acrosport is a very interesting topic that students love to do, but many teachers forget to explain the theoretic part of this content, which is of the utmost importance as they explain how to perform this unit safely and to avoid risky situations. I believe this presentation is very well organised and complete.

My favourite E-book

Finally, my favourite ebook is this one about floorball. I really like this document as it introduces an alternative sport which is becoming more and more popular. Moreover, this ebook nicely explains not only the rules and materials needed to play this sport, but it also shows and describes everything from an educational point of view. All in all, it is a great resource to get to know this sport.

And that's everything! I hope you have enjoyed this post. 
You'll hear from me soon!
Angel

My canvas in lino

Hi everyone!

Today I'm going to share with you a very interesting application, is called Lino!

With this app, you can create your own canvases and fill them with post-its, making it a very interesting and visual way of sharing information! 
Using this app, I've shared some very interesting tools and apps to use in my Physical Education lessons that I have found in the Internet, have a look at them:

PE tools and apps

Hope you have found this post interesting!
Angel

What is according to me the best blog in my field?

Hi again!

In this post I'm going to write about the best blogs from my point of view in my field: Physical Education and Sports Science.
I usually follow a number of people that publish very interesting things on their blogs, specially via twitter, which is the social network I use the most to learn what other people are doing.
Thanks to Twitter, I follow two very interesting blogs that are worth mentioning here:

Running Research Junkie: This blog is owned by Craig Payne, a prior University lecturer of the LaTrobe University (Australia). Craig usually introduces scientific articles published in the most important peer-review journals of the field and explains and discuss their results in a very casual, friendly and funny way (always without altering the findings). It is a very entertaining way to be updated in the field (running, running shoes, training, etc.) without getting too bored.

Fisiología del ejercicio: This blog is owned by JL Chicharro (doctor and Phd in Sports Physiology) and his blog is a very interesting place to read sound posts about physiology, nutrition, training, performance and health and their relationship with sports and physical activity. Following this blog will allow you to get to know the most recent and interesting publications of this field of work. Moreover, you can find different courses to enroll as well as resources of sports physiology and physical activity. 

In conclusion, two very interesting blogs that will keep you update in a very entertaining and interesting way. You should visit them right now! What are you waiting for?
Ángel Lucas.

CMS Examples

Hi Everyone!

Following the previous post, I'm going to write about different examples of software such as Drupal, Joomla!, PHP-Nuke, Zikula or Mestre a Casa. 
These types of software provide different options when creating your webpage, and it is up to each person to decide which one to use depending on the aim of their specific webpage. 

- On the one hand, Drupal offers a very easy and user-friendly model to use, which facilitates the user to know the different categories and subcategories within each menu. It is very simple and clear, although it is possible that people looking for a more professional appearance will prefer other types of software.
- On the other hand, Joomla! seems to be the midpoint between complexity and a basic appearance. The menus are more original and they look nicer, even though they may get a bit confusing if there are too many (something that may not happen when using Drupal or Mestre a Casa). But the first impression of Joomla! is great and the webpage is excellent from a visual point of view.
- Another software is PHP-Nuke. This software enables the creation of webs similar to a blog, and the different menus lead you to a place similar to a forum, where the user can search for a given date or content. Moreover, at least in the example (http://ieslosangeles.es/index.php), each menu has an external link, which gets a little bit annoying because it makes it difficult for the user to understand the relationships between categories, as you are jumping continously to another webpage.
- Similarly, Zikula offers a blog appearance as well, with the main content on the left side and the different gagdets and menus on the right side. The main content is organised chronologically and the user needs to scroll down to see the different posts, although the menus on the right (with no sub-categories) can lead the user to the content as well. 
- Finally, Mestre a casa is a software used by Conselleria. Similarly to Drupal, it organises very well the different categories and subcategories, and the user can see immediately the sections of the webpage and which content is included in each menu. 

From my point of view, I like "Joomla!" and "Mestre a casa" the most. The first one looks simple and professional at the same time, with that point of originality that is always welcome as a reader. On the other hand, Mestre a casa looks easy, with the information very well structured and showing the reader all the different categories with just one glance. 

Hope you have enjoyed this post. See you soon!
Angel Lucas.

Using Joomla!

Hi everyone!

In this post I'm going to write about a very interesting webpage: Joomla!
Joomla! is a free content management system (CMS), which enables us to create our own webpages with its different tools and apps.

It's a very useful software, as it is very user-friendly and easy to use. Moreover, it provides a large number of features including:

• It is multilingual: offering over 65 languages
• Well supported: with a great problem-solving service thanks to the developers and consultans participating in the forums
• Easy updates with just one-click
• Help system (to operate within the site, plus the software documentation and forums)
• Media manager: to upload and organise the media files (videos, photos, images, etc.) in an easy way
• Banner management: to offer other companies to get advertised within your web
• Search engine: to look through the information of your web
• Nest and tag your information: in order to organise all the different entries and sections of your web
• Versioning: controlling the different versions and updates (and recovering previous versions if necessary)
• Extensions: with hundreds of extra functionalities to include in your webpage
• ... and much more! 

And as an example of the extensions available, I describe one here: JFBConnect:

If we install this extension in our webpage, it will enable our users to connect and share the information and posts of our web into the main social networks. Sharing the information and making it public and known by everyone is one of the main goals of companies and, of couse, of you and your webpage, therefore this extension will facilitate our users to share the information published in our web and, as a result, to increase the number of potential readers and users of our web. In conclusion, I consider this extension to be essential within your Joomla! web. 
Do you know of any other interesting extension for Joomla! Let us know!
Angel Lucas.