School Tech News Archive

Google Enrolled for Schools Email Deal

(Wednesday 30th July 2008)
"Google has snatched what is believed to be its biggest single client in the world - the NSW Department of Education - away from its rival Microsoft to claim up to 1.3 million new users of its free email product.....The acting Minister for Education, John Hatzistergos, said the new system would cater for 1.3 million users and be in place by the end of the year." (SMH)

Excursion Monitor

(Wednesday 30th July 2008)
Was your school Athletics Carnival postponed due to this weeks' wet weather? How do you notify students and teachers that the carnival is off? Why not try a Web 2.0 solution? Linked to your school's web site, a Web 2.0 excursion monitor site can easily be updated by the event organiser or the Principal from home, and is accessible whenever students and their parents check the site (rather than waiting for a radio announcement).

Search Me

(Tuesday 29th July 2008)
Not sure how extensive the results are, but it sure looks neat! Displays search results in the same way that iTunes displays your album covers in CoverFlow mode. Very snazzy!

Write Rhymes

(Tuesday 29th July 2008)
Remember sitting in your English class trying to come up with that elusive rhyming word for your poetry masterpiece? Type your poem on this page, then option/alt click on any word to find words that rhyme. (I couldn't find a rhyming word for welcome though, or orange!)

Keyboard Kids Losing Art of Handwriting

(Monday 28th July 2008)
"More than 150,000 students in years 11 and 12 at schools across NSW have a problem. Almost all are skilled users of computer keyboards.... But within the next year or so all of them will have to sit 15 to 20 hours of examinations for the Higher School Certificate, and the exams will be almost entirely handwritten." (SMH)

National Science Week 2008

(Monday 28th July 2008)
You can join thousands of teachers and students from early childhood to senior secondary levels who are getting organised for another great National Science Week. They will be organising and participating in a hugely diverse range of activities and events for the week 16th-24th August.

NASA Images

(Monday 28th July 2008)
Huge archive of some fantastic photos that may be useful if you are presenting a unit of work on Space, maybe a Science Week activity (see above), or just take a walk down the NASA memory lane. Check out the timeline facility at the bottom of the main page.

Byte stuff versus write stuff: why the pen is mightier than the PC

(Saturday 26th July 2008)
Some interesting musings about old and new technologies. "....I don't think handwriting will ever be replaced as an instrument of thought, any more than writing could displace talking out loud." (SMH)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s Memo to the MS Troops

(Friday 25th July 2008)
Some interesting reading for those interested in how these companies view their world. This site has reproduced a copy of a memo that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent out to his troops about some big changes in their organisation, in which he addresses competitors Apple, Yahoo, Google and more. (BoomTown)

OzProjects - Beijing 2008 Activities

(Friday 25th July 2008)
A range of classroom activities to increase understanding about the country of China and its culture in the context of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and to facilitate student exploration of the human rights issues surrounding China and the Olympic Games. (See also: Ancient China)

Australian Olympics - 2008 Education Info

(Friday 25th July 2008)
A range of activities themed around the 2008 Olympic Games has been developed to support teachers in the classroom. The activities emphasise the a.s.p.i.r.e. values, literacy and numeracy skills, the use of information and communication technologies, active lifestyles and links with the community. (See also: Official Beijing Olympics site.)

The Visual Résumé

(Wednesday 23rd July 2008)
Is this where we are heading - or maybe our students are already well past this point?

SimplyBurns (Mac)

(Wednesday 23rd July 2008)
A neat, simple, open source utility to copy/burn CDs and DVDs.

Della Bosca Not Fit to Return, Say Principals

(Monday 21st July 2008)
The Public Schools Principals Forum, representing more than 700 principals, says [the stood-down Education Minister] Mr Della Bosca should be held accountable to the same code of conduct that requires all Department of Education staff to behave in a professional manner that 'models appropriate standards for students'. (SMH) See also: NSW DET Code of Conduct (pdf).

Final Cut World Tour

(Thursday 17th July 2008)
Are you ready to take your video-editing expertise to the next level? Attend a free, in-depth seminar where you can learn about the secrets used by some of the industry’s leading film and video production companies. Apple experts will give step-by-step demonstrations that reveal how each of these customers use Final Cut Studio 2 and Final Cut Server. Sydney seminar is on Tuesday 22nd July, 1-5pm.

Mini-Laptops a Hit with Schools (US)

(Monday 14th July 2008)
Nearly 10,000 HP mini-laptops are headed for the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) in California. A growing number of schools are bypassing full-sized - and more expensive - laptop computers in favour of scaled-down, low-cost machines designed specifically for kids. (See also: Wazza's Netbook Links and News of Upcoming Dell Netbook)

Personalised Learning Standards (UK)

(Thursday 10th July 2008)
"To build a successful system of personalised learning, we must begin by acknowledging that giving every single child the chance to achieve their full potential, whatever their talent or background, is not the betrayal of excellence, it is the fulfilment of it. Personalised learning means high quality teaching that is responsive to the different ways students achieve their best." (Dept for Children, Schools and Families)

Young Minds, Fast Times: The Twenty-First-Century Digital Learner

(Wednesday 9th July 2008)
Marc Prensky discusses the need to involve students in our school ICT planning process. "I give presentations to educators at every level, all around the world. All of the teachers are earnestly trying to adapt their educational system to the twenty-first century. During my talks, however, I typically look out at oceans of white hair. Never ...... is a kid in sight or invited to the party."

Mondegreens - Misheard Lyrics

(Wednesday 9th July 2008)
Always lots of fun with kids (and teachers in the staff room) to compile a list of common mondegreens from popular songs. It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll.....

Kid Pix Update for Leopard

(Monday 7th July 2008)
This site includes a Mac OS X 10.5 compatibility update for Kid Pix 3 (v 1.2.3), along with Leopard updates for other popular MacKiev titles widely used in schools.

Becta IWB Research (pdf)

(Friday 4th July 2008)
Becta (the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) is an agency of the Department for Education in the UK. This paper gives a brief overview of Becta research findings related to the use of IWBs, which have been widely used in UK classrooms for several years. (It is interesting to compare these discussions with our own NSW quality teaching model).

The Connected Classroom

(Friday 4th July 2008)
What equipment is installed in your classroom when it becomes a Connected Classroom? Some photos of a typical installation of an IWB, cameras and LCD screen.

ScreenSteps (Mac, Win)

(Tuesday 1st July 2008)
If you regularly create step-by-step tutorials involving lots of screenshots, this software might be worth some investigation. Particularly useful for creating online tutorials, using the html export feature.