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 Classroom v Moodle
For many years schools have explored various options for providing an online component to regular classes. This need for an online environment has recently become more focussed with the move to BYO technologies in schools. Over the years Moodle has become a popular, though clunky option as an LMS (Learning Management System) platform in schools. Now Google has entered the market with the release of … 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
Teachers Golf Photos – 2014
Tuesday 23rd December 2014 The Illawarra Teachers Christmas Golf Day was held yesterday at the Port Kembla Golf Club. Check out the photos >>>
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 >>>
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
ASTD Photos
Friday 14th November 2014 Photos from last month’s ASTD event are now available online. Includes plenty of Segway action! >>>
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
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
EasyBib – create a bibliography in Google Docs
Monday 20th October, 2014 Are your students are creating research papers in Google Docs? If so, there is a great (free) add-on they can use to build a list of their references. Using the EasyBib Add-on for Google Docs, students can easily create a bibliography and add it directly to their research paper, as shown in the video below….
New connectors in Google Drawings & Slides
Friday 19th September 2014 Google continues to quietly rollout updates and new features for Google Apps. The most recent addition, shown in the Gooru video below, brings elbow connectors and curved connectors to Drawings and Slides, and can be used to build flowchart displays, organisational diagrams, etc, in either app….
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
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
Google Forms Updated
Friday 5th September 2014 Google Forms has received a major makeover. Google has added a brand new collection of themes from which to choose, and these themes can be customised to fit your specific needs. Alternatively, you can start from scratch and create your own Form theme using your own images. Ad well as adding custom images, you can also change the … 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
Caves Beach PS – 1/2S
Wednesday 3rd September 2014 Stay up to date with the activities in 1/2S at Caves Beach Public School – located south of Newcastle, on the coast of New South Wales, Australia. Visit 1/2S and leave a comment >>>
LEGO stop motion video – quick how-to
Tuesday 2nd September 2014 Anyone can make a stop motion video using an iPod and the LEGO Movie Maker app. This app has so many curriculum applications, for any age group…. Watch the video below,and download the app here >>>
3/4C with Miss Bell
Thursday 28th August 2014 3/4C at Caves Beach PS are now online. Click on the What we are learning menu to explore their activities in Literacy, Maths, Creative Arts and Science. Drop by and say ‘Hi’ with a comment on 3/4c’s blog >>>
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
Escaping Education’s Death Valley
Monday 25th August 2014 Sir Ken Robinson outlines 3 principles crucial for the human mind to flourish – and how current education culture works against them. In an entertaining presentation Sir Ken considers some options to escape the educational “death valley” we now face, and discusses (without a slideshow!) how to nurture our youngest generations with a climate of possibility….
Goodbye Powerpoint – Education conferences
Friday 22nd August 2014 No one moves. A room full of people have traveled long distances to this conference of superintendents, and no one wants to ask the person speaking before them a question. Some people are probably afraid to ask a question because they weren’t paying attention; at least a few attendees have spent the morning on their phones, checking … Read More
NAPLAN test too confusing for students
Monday 18th August 2014 The NAPLAN writing test was so hard this year that students’ marks have slipped across the country and in NSW there has been a “substantial increase” in the number of students who will receive zero because the question was too confusing. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), which runs NAPLAN, is investigating problems with … Read More
3C at Broulee PS
Friday 15th August 2014 What has been happening in class 3C at Broulee PS this week? How about baking pikelets and then cutting them into fractions! Check out 3C’s class blog – hosted at Weebly >>>
Firefox YouTube Video Downloader
Thursday 14th August 2014 Ever had a lesson prepared, needed to display a YouTube video, and right at the crucial moment you discover that the Internet is down? Fear no more! Use the Firefox YouTube Video Downloader to save the video as an MP4 file so it is ready to go, right when you need it. Install the Video Downloader Firefox … 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