Where did the name ‘Bluetooth’ come from? Would you believe 10th-century Danish royalty? And how about the origins of the Bluetooth icon? (Could come in handy for the next trivia quiz night!) Learn more at BetterCloud >>>
At last – easy Columns in Google Docs
Friday 28th November 2016 While Google Docs provides a great online editing environment, one of those application hangovers from days gone by was the need to use a workaround (adding a table) to create columns in a document. No more! Google have now added a Columns option to the Docs Format menu…. Click on More options to alter the spacing or add lines between … Read More
The last VCR
The last company still manufacturing VCR technology, the Funai Corporation of Japan, has announced that it will stop making VCRs at the end of this month, mainly because of “difficulty acquiring parts.” The announcement represents the end of a technology that was introduced in the 1950s. It took several decades for VCRs to make their way into consumers’ homes, but in its heyday it was … Read More
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
Google Apps: hands-on workshops
Wednesday 12th August 2015 Are staff at your school embracing new Cloud technologies? Think3’s Scott Barnham will be presenting a one-day hands-on workshop on Google Apps for Education at Port Kembla PS on Thursday 20th August, at Port Kembla PS. These workshops are always popular, and are a great opportunity for all school staff to keep up to date with the … Read More
Off the screen and into the playground
Monday 10th August 2015 At Ravenswood School for Girls the playgrounds are full of girls who are not texting or even updating their social media status. A large group of year 10 girls are shrieking with delight over a skipping game where at least 12 jumped together. A group of year 11 students try a new version of Twister. Other girls play the old-fashioned … 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
Planning – ICT supporting the Curriculum
Thursday 23rd July 2015 ‘ICT in the curriculum’ is not the same as ‘learning about computers’. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can become an engaging tool to support the learning environment. Is your school developing school management and planning structures that foster the exploration of new and emerging technologies, to support and enrich classroom learning activities? Our goal is to ‘normalise’ technology use … Read More
Technology is not a learning outcome
Tuesday 21st July 2015 A few years ago I walked into a classroom with a local District IT manager. The class of 9 and 10 year olds were working in groups, all engrossed in producing videos about their chosen topics. Some groups were constructing stop-motion videos, others were outside the classroom conducting hard-hitting interviews with staff. Other students were off in … Read More
Integrating Classroom, Doctopus and Goobric
Monday 13th July 2015 If you have previously used Doctopus and Goobric (to assess assignments with your pre-made rubrics), you will love the work that the gurus have put in to integrate these tools with Google Classroom. Great overview video from Jennie Magiera… Check out more Google Apps how-to guides >>>
K-12 ICT Infrastructure Planning
Tuesday 16th June A sound ICT infrastructure is an essential foundation of a successful modern learning environment. To be successful in supporting the curriculum, school ICT infrastructure development and implementation (computers, mobile devices, the network cabling, wireless access points, etc) must be considered in conjunction with, and in response to, the needs of the school learning environment. Is your school’s … Read More
Project grading rubrics
Tuesday 9th June 2015 Using new technologies, students are able to share their knowledge in a variety of modes and media. How do teachers grade assignments and projects that have been created using a variety of media? Check out these ICT project grading rubrics >>>
Is that the right tool?
Tuesday 2nd June 2015 Yesterday I made reference to an article highlighting the inappropriate use of slide show software, such as PowerPoint. (Powerpoint should be banned) We can (and should) apply similar judgments to the use of technology in the classroom – digital technologies aren’t necessarily the best tool for many learning activities. It doesn’t hurt to be non-digital – in … Read More
Digital normalisation – the imperitive for all schools
Tuesday 19th May 2015 Digital normalisation occurs when the use of digital technology across all facets of the school operations is so natural, and so accepted, that it appears to be almost invisible. While the young people of the world, their parents and developed societies have normalised the use of digital technologies in their everyday lives, and moved their daily … 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 >>>
Govt online policies for Australian students
Thursday 19th March 2015 Many schools now use Google Apps for Education, and other online services, on a regular basis for both curriculum and administrative functions. However, the companies providing these services have a minimum age restriction for the use of their services – usually 13 years of age. In the US the use of such services by children is … Read More
BYOD – A new world of opportunity
Tuesday 3rd March 2015 Schools that have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy are encouraging independent learning and asking teachers to innovate in a fashion that would’ve been unimaginable to most just a few years ago. For teachers, the opportunities and challenges are extensive. They need to be supported by the school leadership, technically and professionally, as they explore … Read More
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 >>>
Google signs student data privacy pledge
Friday 23rd January 2015 Google has joined Apple, Microsoft, and 90 other education-technology companies to sign the Student Data Privacy Pledge, according to an announcement on Monday from the Future of Privacy Forum, a non-profit group which created the pledge last year. Read more about this story at WSJ >>> Visit the Student Data Privacy Pledge site >>> More info about … 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 >>>
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 >>>
The case of eBooks v paper books
Wednesday 14th January 2015 Did you purchase a new e-reader over the holidays? Is it as good as (or better than) a regular hard copy book? Naomi Baron has some thoughts >>>
Free – 1TB of Drive storage for new Chromebooks
Wednesday 17th December 2014 Thinking of exploring the Chromebook option this Christmas? Google is offering 1TB of free Drive storage for owners of new Chromebooks (for 2 years – redeem before Jan 31st 2015). Considering that 1TB of storage is valued at around AU $120, that’s great value on a $350 Chromebook – and it is a big storage bump … Read More
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
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 >>>
NYC approves Chromebooks in public schools
Tuesday 18th November 2014 The New York City Department of Education (DoE) announced Monday that it has approved Google’s Chromebooks for use in the city’s public classrooms – representing approximately 1 million students and 1,800 schools. The DOE also authorised the use of Google Apps for Education (GAFE), and put together a guide to implementing Chromebooks and Google utilities into the classroom. … Read More