Thursday 5th February 2015 KidRex is a fun and safe search tool for younger students. KidRex searches emphasise kid-related webpages from across the entire web, and is powered by Google. Google’s filters check keywords, phrases, and URLs to eliminate most inappropriate material. Check out KidRex >>>
Prowise Presenter for LCD Screens
Tuesday 3rd February 2015 Are you looking for replacement software for Smart Notebook, to use with your new LCD interactive touch screen? Or maybe your old IWB software is no longer compatible with your latest OS? 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 >>>
SAMR – ICT in your classroom
Wednesday 28th January 2015 As we commence the new school year (in Australia) there will be much discussion about the use of new tech devices by students in the classroom. Is technology redefining learning opportunities in your school? Or just dishing up more of the same with a new interface? Learn more about SAMR (incl a video in a Google Apps context) … Read More
Google Apps v Office 365 – For your school
The expectation by teachers and students of ‘anytime, anywhere, any device’ access to online services has resulted a rethink of software and file-server provisioning in schools. Many schools are now enabling student and teacher access to collaborative cloud apps and file storage services, which are accessible from school and home, on shared school computers and personal laptops and tablet devices. Which cloud service is … 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
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 >>>
Implementing Chromebooks in a K-6 school
Monday 15th December 2014 At the beginning of the year, Matt’s public school in Sydney purchased thirty-two Chromebooks to be used as shared devices in their school library. The Chromebooks were purchased to replace ageing desktops that used to make computer time in the library a challenging experience. When embarking on this journey, Matt was able to read plenty of case studies about schools in the USA … Read More
School Planning: the ICT infrastructure continuum
Friday 12th December 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 leveraged 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 models. Technology … Read More
Lesson plans using iPads
Thursday 11th December 2014 Published by a teacher in the Newcastle (NSW) area, this site provides specific lesson plans and student work samples relating to the use of various iPad apps. Check out ICT with Miss C >>>
Google to be revamped for under-12s
Monday 8th December With Google processing 40,000 search queries a second – or 1.2 trillion a year – it’s a safe bet that many of those doing the Googling are kids. Not surprisingly, Google plans to create specific versions of its most popular products for those 12 and younger. The most likely candidates are those that are already popular with a … Read More
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 >>>
Grade quizzes with Flubaroo
Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Flubaroo is a free tool that helps you quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-blank assignments created in Google Forms. More than just a grading tool, Flubaroo also: Computes average assignment score. Computes average score per question, and flags low-scoring questions. Shows you a grade distribution graph. Gives you the option to email each student their grade, and … Read More
Help your students become better searchers
Tuesday 2nd December 2014 Web search can be a useful tool for students, and some in-depth discussion about how to search for academic sources will help your students become critical thinkers and independent learners. Using the materials on this site, students can become skilled searchers – whether they’re just starting out with search, or ready for more advanced training. Lesson plans and activities, … Read More
Rubic’s Cube – A question, waiting to be answered
Monday 1st December 2014 Rubik’s cube is more than a puzzle – it’s a question waiting to be answered. And when the right person finds the right question, it can set them on a journey to change the world. As Ernő Rubik notes in the video below, great educators are helping young minds find the questions that challenge, excite, and let them … Read More
eLearning Summit (Illawarra)
Friday 21st November 2014 The Five Islands e-Learning Summit is a full day event, providing primary and secondary teachers the opportunity to develop their skills and understanding of current technology and how it is best used to support learning. The day will consist of three sessions, broken up by morning tea and lunch (both provided) allowing for practical hands-on activities … 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…
iPads in Action – Berry PS
Thursday 13th November 2014 K-6 Teacher Professional Learning Workshop Think3 presents iPads in Action: Apps and Activities for Creative Classrooms – at Berry PS on Friday 21st November 2014. With so many educational apps available, many primary teachers are asking for guidance about which Apps to purchase and how to best facilitate their use. This workshop will showcase and review … 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
Using iPads with Google Classroom
Wednesday 29th October 2014 While there are currently a number of workflow solutions and Learning Management Systems that work well with iPads, Google Classroom will likely become popular in iPad classrooms because of the integration with both the Google Drive and Google Doc’s iPad apps as well as any number of iPad creativity apps. Although there is not a dedicated app for Google Classroom, … Read More
Google Classroom – New Features
Wednesday 22nd October 2014 With Classroom released just last month, Google has already responded to the many feature requests. (I have no doubts that this will be an ongoing process). The first improvements include… Invite students more easily using Groups Mark assignments as “done” Improved teacher controls Export assessment grades to other gradebooks Sort students by first or last name Learn more about the … Read More
Word Clouds with Google Docs
Tuesday 21st October 2014 Word clouds, also known as text clouds or tag clouds, are a popular tools for visually analysing text – making it easy to spot word frequencies. The more frequently the word is used, the larger and bolder it is displayed in the image. Many teachers use word clouds as part of their learning activities, or to support their own … Read More
Comic Life for iOS – launch pricing
Thursday 16th October 2014 For one day only (US time) the new Comic Life for iOS app is available for the special ‘launch price’ of $3.79 in the Australian app store, or $2.99 in the US App store. Check out Comic Life the Australian app store >>> Check out Comic Life in the US app store >>>
Free Interactive Whiteboard Software
Wednesday 24th September 2014 Are you tired of your school being locked into one proprietary IWB application? Try Open-Sankoré – apps available for Mac, Windows and Linux. Sancoré features include… commenting, drawing and highlighting tools; importing flash animations, images, audio; importing pdf or ppt documents; embedding dynamic content into your course: apps from widgets, Wikipedia, or Google Maps; dynamic screen management, … 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 >>>
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
Google-proof questioning with Bloom
Thursday 11th September 2014 What is a “Google-proof question?” It is a question (or research task) that can not be directly answered via Google (or any other search engine) because it requires analysis, interpretation, and investigation. Writing such questions, or designing such research tasks, can be challenging. A helpful tool to consider when designing student research tasks is Bloom’s Taxonomy. … Read More
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