Latest Changes to busythings Explained!
Some of you may be wondering why the busythings interface has had a significant makeover, so I thought I would use our Blog to explain what’s been going on.
We are bursting with ideas on how to ‘grow’ busythings and so we need to fit more on the Main Menu in preparation for this. Rather than ‘crowd’ the Main Menu with new areas we decided to add another menu at the top level. The first impression may be that there has been a big reshuffle but there really hasn’t – all the familiar games are now behind the Areas of Learning button. Teachers, parents and children will find everything in its usual place once they are in this area.
Re-organising the Main Menu also gave us the opportunity to present Busy Box as an area of equal ‘weight’ to the 130+ games behind the Areas of Learning. Busy Box already contains over thirty quick-fire activities and will continue to expand over the coming months.
If you don’t like this Main Menu layout remember there are others to choose from. On the Main Menu go to Alter Interface in the top left and have a play with the various options under ‘Organise menus by’. We have also added a new layout called ‘Curriculum-Based 3’ which is quite close to the previous busythings layout, so if you are feeling nostalgic for the old design, give this one a go. Remember, anything you change in here will only affect the current setup, the idea being that you can customise a setups structure to suit different needs.
You will notice Busy Projects with a ‘coming soon’ badge. This will be an area where busythings users at home and abroad can work on creative projects ‘together’. We don’t want to say too much for now, but hope to get some of you Beta testing towards the end of the Summer term.
On the Main Menu you there is now an ‘Evidence’ button on the left hand side. Sessions are tracked and learning objectives covered are reported in here. The information can be customised and printed out for reference or record keeping purposes.
Those of you who are logging directly into a setup should logout for a moment and take a look at the setup selection screen. We have added a button in the top right hand corner called Records and Certificates that is worth a look. We hope the teachers amongst you will use the certificates for your ‘star of the day’. Busythings reward stickers are also in the pipeline!
For those of you using your default login I’m sure you have all noticed we have put up password protection to all teacher areas. Please note there is a check-box to keep you authorised for a whole session, so you should only need to enter a password once. If you want to disable this feature, on the Setup Selection screen go to Tools and Resources and click Change your account settings and then choose Low Security.
There is certainly a lot going on! Not only the development of ‘Busy Projects, but the integration of the new EYFS 2012 and Letters and Sounds Phases 4, 5 and 6 are all firmly on the agenda for 2012.
Remember, if you need help with any aspect of busythings please call us on 01332 364963.
I think that is all for now. Hope you are all having a nice Easter break.
Rachel