BYOD Planning for Principals

Thursday 18th September 2014 Schools leaders are faced with two key challenges in the new world of BYOD. One is selecting the right device or devices for students to bring to school. The second is ensuring that their teaching staff are designing creative, engaging and purposeful digital learning activities to which students bring their devices. Scott Barnham and Nerida McCredie … Read More

Does your school support mobile learning?

Wednesday 17th September 2014 I recently stumbled upon the presentation below, titled Mobile is Eating the World, created by Benedict Evans. The presentation below (it is definitely worth a scroll through the 24 slides) uses sales charts to highlight the massive shift in the kind of technology that is being consumed throughout the developed world. People aren’t buying desktop PCs – … Read More

Google Apps – Arthur Phillip HS Case Study

Tuesday 16th September 2014 Arthur Phillip High School is a public secondary school in Parramatta, Australia serving 1,500 students in grades 7-12. Students at Arthur Phillip hail from 65 different countries and 90% speak a language other than English at home. Five years ago, Arthur Phillip began exploring options to embrace digital education. At the time, the Australian Government’s Digital Education … Read More

How to support BYOD without really trying

Monday 15th September 2014 Following the end of a government sponsored netbook program, Yass HS is working towards BYOD. BYOD poses particular challenges for schools that are used to working with school-owned computers installed with ‘standard’ software. Yass HS thinks they may have found an answer >>>

ASTD 2014

Monday 8th September 2014 It’s on a again – bigger and better than ever! One of the most practical, classroom-oriented technology conferences in Australia, the annual All Schools Technology Day will be held on Tuesday 28th October 2014, at Kiama Pavilion. The 2014 conference theme is ‘Learning in the Mobile Era’. Choose from a variety of hands-on workshops to explore … Read More

Neutral Bay PS – Open Day

Thursday 4th September 2014 Neutral Bay PS are holding an open day on Friday 12th September. You can visit the school to see how their 1:1 technology programs engage all students…. Learn how the technology infrastructure supports innovation in teaching and learning; Hear from members of the school community and visit classrooms to discover the possibilities offered by mobile learning.  Who Should Attend? … Read More

iOS apps for Google Docs, Sheets – and now Slides

Wednesday 27th August 2014 Google have announced the launch of their Slides app for iOS, along with updates to their Docs and Sheets apps. It is now possible to work on any file, on any device, at any time. The iOS apps save edits locally, syncing when you next have WiFi network access. Read more about the new apps at the Google Blog … Read More

BYOD at East Hills Girls THS

Tuesday 12th August 2014 All students in Years 7 – 9 at East Hills Girls Technology High School now use their own iPads across all Faculties in the school. The teachers in each Faculty have contributed to an iBook, outlining ideas for integrating the iPad within their Faculty’s curriculum activities. To access the iBook you will need to enrol in the school’s related iTunes U course….. … Read More

11 things to know about the new Google Drive

Friday 25th July 2014 Google Drive has a brand-new look and there are a lot of changes to discover. While many of theses changes are design and user-experience improvements, Google also added some new functions. Check out the video along with a list of some of Google Gooru’s favorite changes >>>

Solutions for the cross-platform classroom

Thursday 24th July 2014 The modern tech-savvy classroom can be a complicated mix of devices and software. As technology becomes more ubiquitous both at home and in the classroom, schools find themselves in a more blended world. As educators in the 21st century, we must be prepared to tackle education in an environment that is cross-platform and multi-device. How do we provide an effective, innovative and … Read More

Cloud Compare

Friday 18th July 2014 Dropbox was the first online file storage company to capture widespread public interest. It is a great service, with an easy to use interface, and apps for all mobile devices and OSs. However, Dropbox is no longer the only cloud file service available – there are plenty of others, often with better options for storing and sharing files. And all … Read More

Have new technologies brought new learning opportunities?

Monday 14th July 2014 Today is a ‘student free day’ in local schools, with many teachers involved in professional learning activities focussed on the use of new technologies to support the curriculum. But are these new technologies bringing new learning opportunities to classrooms, or simply providing students with a new typewriter interface? The SAMR model provides a framework to define the impact of technology in the … Read More

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

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 >>>

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 >>>

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 >>>

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

Chromebook and Google Apps Showcase

Wednesday 28th May 2014 Arthur Phillip High School invites Principals and Technology Coordinators to a showcase of digital learning. This event is an opportunity to hear the story of the school’s journey from DER to BYOD with Chromebooks and Google Apps for Education. Following morning tea in the Governor’s Room, school principal Lynne Goodwin will lead a presentation describing the circumstances and … Read More

Transitioning your school to the new ICT era

Monday 26th may 2014 A key goal of teachers using technology to support the curriculum has always been the integration of new and innovative technologies in day-to-day classroom activities. Unfortunately, the cost of new technologies has always been a hurdle to achieving this goal. When ‘technology access’ is located in a secure ‘lab’ in another building in the school – accessible once a week … Read More

Blended Learning Resources (NSW Rural & Distance Ed)

Friday 23rd May 2014 Blended learning is a teaching practice that has developed to meet the needs of 21st-century learners. It is methodology that can be used in all learning contexts, from face-to-face classrooms through to totally online learning environments. The NSW Rural and Distance Education site provides useful resources for educators in a wide variety of environments to integrate new technologies in … Read More

Showbie Pro Update

Wednesday 21st May 2014 Have you checked out Showbie yet? The video below demos the latest release of Showbie Pro, and gives a concise overview of the features of the app. There is also a free version for classes of up to 35 students, with similar features. Definitely worth checking out. Visit the Showbie site >>>

BYOD at Sydney Boys HS

Monday 19th May 2014 Year 9 students at Sydney BHS are expected to bring their own computing device to school every day. The school makes recommendations as to the model of device students may choose to bring, or students can choose an alternative device that meets the school’s specifications. The site includes information and links to documents outlining school policy, student charter agreements, and device specifications. … Read More

Going 1:1 in 2014

Thursday 15th May 2014 The two articles below , published by Dominic Norris at Innovate My School, discuss reasons why schools are choosing tablets to fulfil their 1:1 ambitions and suggests a slight tweak on how this by-now-familiar formula might be improved. As Dominic writes…. Fundamentally, schools want to bring the undoubted benefits of a really powerful and functional device to every … Read More

Slow Internet? – Check your WAPs

Wednesday 14th May 2014 How old are the Wireless Access Points (WAPs) on your network? Could they be responsible for slow network speeds in your school? Last week I visited a school that was having issues connecting to the Internet using their wireless network. In the staffroom an old Airport Extreme (spaceship) base station was being used for wireless Internet access. The data … Read More

BYOD Sandpit

Tuesday 13th May 2014 Thinking about implementing BYOD in your school? The BYOD Sandpit contains support documentation and resources developed by teachers, school communities and consultants. The material at BYOD Sandpit is provided to help inform discussion on the implementation of BYOD in K-12 schools. There is a great deal of info on this site relating specifically to NSW DEC schools, including step-by-step … Read More