Monday 16th November 2015 Is your school planning for the introduction of BYOT (or BYOD)? The first item on the checklist of many schools planning for the use of students’ and teachers’ own technologies on the school network is ‘what are the minimum specifications of permitted BYO devices?’ In fact, experience in schools where BYOT has been a success suggests that … 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
Google Classroom adds Mobile Editing & Grading
Thursday 7th May 2015 Google has released an update to its Google Classroom software, bringing several new features to the mobile app. Teachers can now create assignments through the mobile app, edit them and distribute copies to their students. Teachers can also now grade assignments (with private comments or feedback) on their phones or tablets. Read more at The Journal >>> … Read More
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 >>>
Add a slideshow to your class’s Weebly web site
Monday 16th March 2015 Weebly is a popular option for teachers to create a class web page. The free drag ‘n’ drop site builder is easy to use, and Weebly sites look great. If you have been on an excursion, or students have been involved in an activities day, a slideshow is a great way to show off photos of the … Read More
Bloom’s Taxonomy – according to Seinfeld
The video below may be a useful discussion starter for your next curriculum planning meeting, or some pre-class viewing in a flipped professional learning environment…
Google Classroom – Mobile App
Thursday 15th January 2015 Google has released native Classroom mobile apps for both Android and iOS to support it’s new Classroom platform. Also announced are two new Classroom features: a teacher assignments page and the ability to archive classes. Check out the intro video below….. Read more at the Google Education Blog >>>
Where is your school on the ICT continuum?
Monday 17th November 2014 As schools here in Australia begin their planning processes for the 2015 school year, now is a good time to consider how new technologies are being harnessed to support curriculum activities. The broad adoption of mobile electronic devices in the wider community has changed the options for ICT in schools. Schools are moving from remote ‘labs’ to always available BYO … Read More
BYOT – The very first step
Friday 7th November 2014 When schools move down the BYOT path – leveraging students’ own technologies to support the curriculum – much planning time is often focussed on which device (or devices) will be acceptable, how these devices will connect to the school network, how apps will be controlled, and other ‘technical’ hardware and software support issues. While all of this discussion and planning … Read More
HSC 2014: Why are we still handwriting?
Tuesday 14th October 2014 As this year’s HSC examinations get underway, a plethora of teenagers, who have spent their entire lives surrounded by digital information, will wonder why they are still required to handwrite their HSC responses. Why do a generation of young adults who have never had to write a letter, unless it was to Santa in the North … Read More
Intel Chromebook resources
Monday 22nd September 2014 Intel have gathered some useful information, case studies and resources for teachers who are implementing Chromebooks in K-12 schools. Visit the Intel Chromebook site >>>
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
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
Google Drive updates for teachers
Monday 11th August 2014 Over that past few weeks Google have announced a number of updates to Drive. Many of these updates are significant for K-12 teachers. These updates include new ‘Suggested Edits’ in Google Docs, editing Microsoft Word docs in their native format, and a number of new features in Google Slides. Check out a summary of the new ‘teacher features’ … Read More
Is your email address portable?
Wednesday 6th August 2014 If you use Dropbox, Tripit, Skype, PayPal, eBay, Facebook, Edmodo, WordPress, etc, etc, or bank online, or pay your phone, road-toll, ISP, or other regular bills online, you need an e-mail address. And if you want to preserve some long-term sanity, this address needs to be a constant. In particular, if you use an e-mail address provided by … Read More
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
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 >>>
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
Inspired peddling
Thursday 29th May 2014 Would you like to encourage a cycling activity with your students? Maybe you have some experienced students that need something a bit more exciting to ponder? Then check this out…(The risk assessment forms might be a challenge though!)
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 >>>
Sync Multiple Google Drives
Wednesday 30th April 2014 If you have a Gmail account for personal use, and a Google Apps account for school, then you have probably already felt the pain of not being able to sync multiple Google Drive accounts to your computer. Insync is a utility that allows you to sync multiple Google Drive accounts to your computer, along with several other neat … Read More
eduCanon – online lesson builder
Use eduCanon to build interactive online lessons around video clips from YouTube, TeacherTube, Vimeo, etc. Watch the video below, or learn more at educanon.com >>>
Doctopus – Creating class folders
Doctopus is a Google Apps add-on that can now be used to create shared class folders. Watch the video below to learn how to use Doctopus with your classes…. See also: Doctopus overview >>>