School Tech News Archive

ICT Pedagogy Conference 2007 (NSW DET)

(Tuesday 27th February 2007)
Presenters will share resources, strategies, units of work and their students’ original knowledge products created in authentic contexts for a range of audiences, demonstrating a deep understanding of curriculum content and enhanced subject-specific learning outcomes. Be quick - rego closes 1st March!

Guidelines for Wikis & Blogs

(Tuesday 27th February 2007)
NSW DET guidelines for the use of wikis and blogs in an educational environment. More info about blogs and wikis for schools at Wazza's Web 2.0 page.

Copyright for Education

(Monday 26th February 2007)
Australian Copyright Council information for educational institutions (including schools, universities, colleges, TAFEs, training organisations), teachers and academics.

ShotChoice (Mac)

(Monday 26th February 2007)
If you are taking pictures of your Mac OS X computer screen for printed documentation, you can change the file type of the built-in screen shots (cmd-shift-3, cmd-shift-4, etc) from the default png to gif, jpeg, pdf, etc. See also Wazza's Screen Capture Info for other screen capture options, for Win and Mac.

Carbon Copy Cloner 3

(Tuesday 20th February 2007)
CCC 3 was completely rebuilt from the ground up to include a new suite of features. In addition to fast disk-to-disk cloning, CCC is now a full-featured backup utility as well. Ideal for scheduled backups of OSX server.

Mac OS X Portable Network Accounts (pdf - 327k)

(Monday 19th February 2007)
Info about setting up portable home folders for staff (or students) using laptops at school and home, or for staff with exclusive use of a desktop Mac. See also John DeTroye's movie about some other options for Portable Home Folders, and other WGM info.

Leopard Server - Sneak Preview

(Monday 19th February 2007)
A preview of some of the upcoming new features in Mac OS X 10.5 Server. The Wiki Server and PodCast Producer will certainly be useful tools in a school environment.

ISER Learning Systems Information

(Friday 16th February 2007)
Links, technology-related teaching resources, and DET AIBE information from Therese and Tony for schools in the Illawarra and South East Region (ISER).

Get with the Program (Dale Spender - SMH)

(Monday 12th February 2007)
Education "leaders" haven't yet adopted the belief that school curriculums must change to meet the needs of the information economy. Their heads are still in the production line era (similar to their own corporate work environment) ...... Jack Welch, who was boss of General Electric, once told his employees to leave their brains in the car park. The last thing he wanted at the workplace was some bright-spark making "improvements", or introducing a bit of creativity for a better performance in the rigidly controlled production process.

New Apple Store for Sydney

(Monday 12th February 2007)
Apple's design proposal for its first retail store in Australia includes three floors - with lots of glass - at the base of a Sydney sky-rise building, just near the King Street Wharf.

Adding New Users to Your OSX Network

(Friday 9th February 2007)
Introductory notes for schools that are using an OSX server. Includes a step-by-step guide to importing new users from the NSW DET OASIS system with xsuim, creating a new Year Group, a new Home folder sharepoint, and setting appropriate preferences. Also some info about how to remove old accounts and Home folders.

Engineering Studies Teaching Resources

(Tuesday 6th February 2007)
Access to resources for the IA Dept - the heart of any modern HS! Includes a rego link for the esnet listserv and the IA Institute.

NSW State Plan - Priority S4

(Thursday 1st February 2007)
Increasing levels of attainment for all students - This NSW State Plan is driving the agenda of all contracted public service officials, including the Director-General and all School Education Directors. This link includes official "target" information and priorities for schools.

NSW Literacy & Numeracy Levels Fall

(Thursday 1st February 2007)
Literacy and numeracy levels have fallen in NSW public schools, despite increased government funding per student. The proportion of year 3 students achieving national benchmarks dropped 0.8 of a percentage point for reading and 0.9 of a percentage point for numeracy between 2003 and 2004, the Productivity Commission's annual report says.

NSW Government Supplies Interactive Whiteboards for Dubbo Schools

(Thursday 1st February 2007)
The NSW Education Minister has announced a $1.2 million project to provide Dubbo schools with the latest learning technology, including 198 interactive whiteboards, 198 data projectors and 198 lap top computers. (NSW DET)