Monday 30th June 2014 While we are relaxing during the Winter holiday break here in Australia, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is presenting one of the biggest education technology conferences in the world. Around 20,000 educators are attending the ISTE conference in the summer warmth of Atlanta, Georgia, from the 28th June to 1st July. If you are … Read More
Google announces Drive update and transparent MS Office compatibility
Friday 27th June 2014 Google has announced the full integration of QuickOffice technology in Google Apps to provide transparent opening and saving of Microsoft Office files on Google mobile apps and in the Chrome browser on desktop computers. Read the Google announcement >>> Google have also announced a redesign of Google Drive. The video below provides an overview of the changes…
School budgets provide insight into ICT transition
Remember back in the day when your school ICT budget discussions centred around what type of desktop computers to purchase, how many computers to purchase, and how these computers would be allocated around the school? And if your server needed an upgrade? And maybe some networking to a previously unconnected building? Times have certainly changed – and school ICT budgets … Read More
Hapara v Google Classroom
Wednesday 25th June 2014 Google are currently trialling the new Classroom app, due for release to all GAFE schools in September 2014. But what is the difference between the new (free) Classroom, and Hapara, the well-regarded commercial provider of GAFE integration and management? Watch the videos, and read the comparison >>>
32,000 Chromebooks: Virginia school system adopts Chrome OS
Tuesday 24th June 2014 Milwaukee Public Schools rolled out 11,400 devices, Edmonton Public Schools rolled out 13,000 devices, and Chicago Public Schools topped them both at 16,000 devices. Now Virginia’s Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS), one of the largest school systems in the US, announced that it will be switching to Chromebooks in some of its schools. The rollout will begin … Read More
Improve Writing Skills Using Digital Writing and Google Docs
Monday 23rd June 2014 Would you like to improve your students’ writing skills and help them bridge the gap between writing in school and writing in the real world? One way of doing so is by using digital writing and Google Docs, the documents editor available in Google Drive. Since Google Docs is collaborative and available 24/7, students using Google … Read More
Box now syncs iWork files
Monday 23rd June 2014 The Box online storage service has announced that it now syncs iWork files using the Box Sync client for OS X. iWork files have been an issue for Box syncing because, even though they appear to be a single file when viewed on a Mac, they are actually a ‘package’ of files. Box offers 10 Gb of online storage for free, … Read More
Un-Googleable questions in the classroom
Friday 20th June 2014 Creating class projects that develop higher order thinking skills, by focussing on un-Googleable questions….. Teacher: What are we learning about this week? Class: EGYPT!! Teacher: Wrong. We’re learning about how to make and answer better questions, remember? We’re just using Egypt as an example when we do it. Class: *Nervous shufflings.* Can’t we just do a project … Read More
BYOD and SAMR
Thursday 19th June 2014 Darcy Moore discusses the implications of a BYOD program at Dapto HS, in the southern suburbs of Wollongong (NSW). The school is moving to a BYOD model in 2014. Darcy considers BYOD models, technical issues, and the pedagogical underpinnings of a successful 1:1 ICT program. Check out Darcy’s blog >>>
Effective Presentations
Wednesday 18th June Death by Powerpoint …. we’ve all been there – battling to keep our eyes open during an eye-glazing slide-show presentation, containing tonnes of irrelevant information, in tiny text that no-one beyond the front row can read! Don’t become one of those presenters! Check out these tips for effective presentations >>>
Google Classroom – first look
Tuesday 17th June 2014 Classroom is a new Learning Management System (LMS) environment being developed by Google to operate in conjunction with Google Apps for Education (GAFE). Classroom is currently available for trial schools, and will be available for all schools using GAFE in September 2014. Classroom will be free for schools. Classroom builds on GAFE to create and organize assignments, provide grades … Read More
K-12: GAFE v OneDrive v iCloud Drive
Monday 16th June 2014 With collaborative cloud apps rapidly becoming an accepted ‘norm’ for file creation and storage, ICT discussion in schools often turns to which of the popular online file-editing and file-sharing packages is the most suitable for use in a K-12 environment. Microsoft, Apple and Google all offer a combination of remote ‘cloud’ file storage, and the usual suite of online, browser-editable ‘office’ applications, as well … Read More
Merrylands HS – BYOD
Friday 13th June 2014 This site provides a comprehensive overview of the BYOD program at Merrylands HS, in the western suburbs of Sydney. Includes an overview of the BYOD program, information for students and families, student agreement documents, frequently asked questions, and evaluation information from the school’s trials of BYOD. Check out the Merrylands BYOD site for more info >>>
iPads in Action K-6: Literacy and Mathematics
Thursday 12th June 2014 Think3 will present a workshop on integrating iPads in the Curriculum, at Helensburgh PS on Tuesday 24th June 2014. Participants will be introduced to a wide variety of apps throughout the day to showcase the number of ways iPads can be used to successfully support and engage students in their learning. This workshop will involve a … Read More
Transitioning school technology to the new era
Wednesday 11th June 2014 Rather than spending limited school budgets on computers and software licenses, which need to be renewed every few years, savvy schools are now focusing their technology planning on the deployment of infrastructure that can support student-owned and teacher-owned devices, leaving the cost of device renewal to the owners of those devices. The key technology planning considerations for schools in the … Read More
Getting started with Google Apps
Tuesday 1oth June 2014 Introductory step-by-step guides for a wide variety of Google Apps. Learn how to use Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, and other Google products, such as Search, Video editing, etc. Check out the Google Apps Quickstarts >>>
Going BYOT? – Improve your Internet access
Thursday 5th June 2014 When schools rolls out a BYOT program they might be adding hundreds of new devices to their network. All using the school’s existing bandwidth to access the Internet. You will definitely need more bandwidth to support BYOT. But you can make better use of your existing bandwidth using a proxy server. Every time a student clicks on a link to a … Read More
Back to school BYOT buying guide
Wednesday 4th June 2014 This brief guide, published by the consumer advice group Choice, provides an insight into the dilemma facing parents in choosing the most suitable device for BYOT schools. (And the dilemma facing schools in communicating those requirements to parents!) Read the Choice guide >>>
Apple unveils new features at 2014 WWDC
Tuesday 3rd June 2014 Overnight, Apple have announced a stack of new features at their annual Worldwide Developers Conference, held in San Francisco. Check out the new OS X Yosemite, iOS8, iCloud Drive, MailDrop, HealthKit, and increased connectivity and sharing options between all your mobile devices and family members. Check out the Keynote address video >>>
Kathy Schrock’s Bloomin’ Apps
Monday 2nd June 2014 Would you like to focus on the use of new technologies in your classroom to support higher order thinking skills and creative learning activities? Kathy Schrock has published a page suggesting suitable iPad, Google, Android and web apps to support each level of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. These apps are also linked to the SAMR model of the use of … Read More