Monday 16th May, 2016 Access to decent online file storage is practically a necessity these days, whether it’s for work or home, and everyone seems to have an opinion on which option is best. Here is a review of three of the most popular file syncing services out there – have a read of yet another opinion on which is most suitable for your needs… … Read More
Is your school making the ICT transition?
Thursday 27th August 2015 Schools are moving from an ICT deployment model where desktop computers were located in secure computer rooms, to a model embracing the widespread use of mobile devices – available when and where they are required to support learning activities. Where is your school on this transition continuum? Read more (and download the transition indicators) >>>
Cloud Data Policies
Monday 24th August 2015 How private is your staff and students’ data when it is stored with a commercial cloud provider? Will students and teachers be targeted with advertising, based on the content of their emails and documents stored in the cloud? Who owns ‘your’ data, once it is stored on a remote server, possibly in another country? Can you retrieve … Read More
Create a website for your class
Monday 3rd August 2015 A class website can be used as a gateway to online resources to support class activities. Check out some examples and read the step-by-step guides to making a free website for your class. It takes less than 15 minutes to create a web site that not only looks very professional, but will also play a key role in ‘normalising’ … Read More
Are you making the transition? – Check your school budget
Tuesday 28th July 2015 When considering ICT services, schools are rapidly transitioning from being providers of desktop PCs for students and teachers, to being providers of network and Internet services over which students and teachers interact with their own technologies. No longer do schools need to maintain on-site file servers or expensive software licensing contracts – this is now mostly available … Read More
Internet boost for schools in Wales
Monday 27th July 2015 In the post-PC era, schools are striving to build collaborative learning environments supplemented by BYOT programs, using online tools such as Google Apps for Education, Weebly, YouTube and a myriad of other ‘cloud’ options. There is one component common to all these tools that is vital to the success of the technology supporting the curriculum – reliable high … Read More
Box now includes Microsoft Office Online
Tuesday 14th July 2015 Box have announced that you can now create a Word doc, PowerPoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet, directly from your online Box account (no Microsoft account required)…..
Google Sheets Updates
Friday 19th June 2015 Google is continually updating and adding new features to their various apps. Some major updates have appeared recently in Sheets, adding new functionality to nearly every aspect of Sheets from chart creation to data display, and collaboration. Check out The Gooru’s overview of the new stuff in Sheets >>>
Google – Privacy check
We’ve all been there at some point or another… You just lost your phone and want to wipe your personal information; You attend an event, and you want to share your photos with some people (but not everyone); You hesitate as you download another app that’s asking for a lot of information. Everyday, we make choices that affect our privacy … Read More
Free Google Slides Templates
Wednesday 11th March 2015 Spice up your next staff presentation, or your students’ book reviews or other class presentation activities, with one of these free Google Slides templates…. All fully editable – open a demo presentation in Slides, then go to File > Make a copy. Free Templates Slides Carnival template gallery Free Google Slides Templates Make your Own … Read More
Back to School – 2015
Tuesday 20th January 2015 As we begin to organise ourselves for the new school year (here in Australia), what should we be thinking about from an ICT perspective?… Where is your school on the ICT Continuum? As schools move away from centralised technology ‘labs’ to the use of personal devices to support learning, the school technology model has changed. Big time! Is … Read More
Browser Stats – Dec 2014
Thursday 15th January 2015 With such a large portion of our screen time involving the use of a web browser, the stats for the share of the browser market provide a quick insight into how our preferences have changed over the years. Netscape anyone? View the latest browser stats >>>
Prowise Presenter
Friday 5th December 2014 Are you looking for replacement software for Smart Notebook, to use with your new LCD interactive touch screen? Give the cloud-based Prowise a try with your interactive display. Prowise imports PDF, MS Office and Smart Notebook files. Check out the Free and Pro versions of Prowise >>>
Lucidpress – DTP in the cloud
Are you looking for a cloud replacement for Publisher? Need a desktop publishing app for your Chromebook? Check out Lucidpress >>>
Cloud Provider Policies
Wednesday 26th November 2014 How private is your data (and your students’ data) when it is stored with a commercial cloud provider? Will you and your students be targeted with advertising, based on the content of their emails and documents stored in the cloud? Who owns ‘your’ data, once it is stored on a remote server, possibly in another country? … Read More
Weebly for iPad
Friday 14th November 2014 Weebly goes from strength to strength – here is some thing to explore over the weekend…. Check out the new Weebly for iPad…
MS Office for iOS now free
Monday 10th November 2014 Microsoft has succumbed to pressure from rivals – it has updated Office apps for iOS and Android – now you can edit Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files, for free. Previously you could view documents with the MS Office apps, but required an Office 365 subscription to edit documents. Microsoft has also integrated the new apps with Dropbox, and now provides … Read More
There is more to GAFE than Drive
Tuesday 7th October 2014 Google announced last week that all 30+ million Google Apps for Education accounts around the world will have their Drive capacity increased from 30 Gb to ‘unlimited’ capacity. This is great news, and will make GAFE even more attractive for schools. There have been similar announcements recently from other providers of online file storage services. However, when considering the options for cloud-based … 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 >>>
Dropbox drops prices
Friday 29th August 2014 Google and Microsoft have recently become very aggressive with pricing for their Drive and OneDrive file storage services, undercutting Dropbox, the longtime leader in the online file storage domain. Apple also recently announced similar pricing to Google and MS for their soon-to-be-released integrated iCloud Drive service. After much speculation Dropbox has finally responded, rationalising its pricing plans to offer just 2 options: Free – … 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