Wednesday 29th April 2015 Computers will mark the written component of Australian NAPLAN exams from 2017 under plans from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). ACARA’s general manager, Stanley Rabinowitz, said he was “very confident” that the auto-scoring method would work when introduced in 2017. Schools with low Internet connectivity will be able to download the tests securely beforehand to avoid overloading broadband connections. USBs could also be delivered to remote … Read More
Getting started with Google Apps
Tuesday 28th April 2015 Think3 is presenting a series of Google Apps workshops for teachers….. Google Apps for Education provides a mature, web-based suite of apps to support learning and collaboration in the classroom – on any device. Getting Started with Google Apps is a one day workshop that equips teachers, school executive and IT staff to explore the collaboration, flexibility … Read More
Firefox YouTube Downloader
Monday 27th April 2015 If you are using a YouTube video as part of a prepared lesson you want it to run when you click the button! As shown in the image above, this Firefox extension adds a download button under each YouTube video – you can download video to your computer, so that you can run a ‘local’ version of the video, without … Read More
Add multiple teachers – Google Classroom update
Wednesday 22nd April 2015 Google has added a number of new features to Classroom, including the much-requested option to have multiple teachers for each class. A new ‘Invite Teacher’ button is now available on the class’s About page. Another much-requested feature is the option to prepare Assignments and Announcements ahead of time, and save them as a Draft, so that those items … Read More
Create a ‘Heat Map’ in Google Sheets
Tuesday 21st April 2015 Google have updated the Conditional Formatting feature in Google Sheets, with a major makeover. The example below shows how a business might use a ‘heat map’ in Sheets to provide a visual indicator of comparative success across financial periods. Teachers could apply a similar model to gauge student progress in academic indicators, such as reading levels, etc.
Google Classroom – step by step guides
Tuesday 7th April 2015 Google Classroom provides an online classroom environment that you can ‘blend’ with your regular class activities. Use Classroom for sharing resources, submitting and evaluating class assignments, along with co-ordinating class discussions. Check out these Google Quickstart guides and videos >>>
Easter Total Lunar Eclipse
Thursday 2nd April 2015 This weekend we will experience a total Lunar eclipse, commencing at 9pm on Saturday night. (Unfortunately the NSW coastal weather forecast isn’t great!) The Sydney Observatory site provides some useful classroom resources, including a fact sheet. Visit the Sydney Observatory site >>>