Group items tagged

Based on US situation but still applicable to Australian situation. "Despite the increasing emphasis on technology as a learning tool in the classroom, many school districts still aggressively filter the Internet that teachers and students can access. While the federal Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires that schools filter for pornographic images, many districts are over-filtering, blocking sites that can be used positively for education. There are a lot of myths about how tight these required filters must be."

"Students at Westall Secondary College will soon be using revolutionary Apple iPads as part of an Australian-first trial of the technology at seven Victorian Government schools. The Member for Clayton Hong Lim MP said Westall Secondary College was among the first in the state to participate in the trial."

Just thought that you would like to know that we are part of this iPad trial :-)

"There are few similarities: it appears that the Coalition's plans for Fixed Wireless technology and Satellite technology in rural areas may be similar (there's an near-total lack of detail in the Coalition's plans and much information is gathered through 'reading between the lines') but there are big questions regarding the differences in funding. Ultimately, the only obvious similarity is that people should be able to download web pages and videos a bit faster. Here follows each facet listed in detail. In the spirit of crowdsourcing, and with the phenomenal success of it in terms of NBN research, if you can add any more information one way or the other, please contact us or leave the details in the comments."

"Looking like a cross between ski goggles and Ray-Bans, Meta SpaceGlasses allow wearers to see and interact with virtual objects in 3D space with their hands. Wearers can see the non-existent objects thanks to tiny projectors in the glasses, while sensors detect hands and allow interaction."

DERN is the Digital Education Research Network. DERN is managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in Melbourne, Australia. DERN is a network for, leaders, researchers and educators interested in the use of digital technologies for learning. Users of DERN may have an interest in ICT, media, pedagogy, emerging technologies and related areas and are probably well briefed in the area of elearning research, as well as scholars seeking details about what research has been done, possibly for their own research purposes.

"Presented by well known science educator, Sean M Elliott, Rough Science is a digital learning environment that explores three exciting Australian Curriculum Year 5 & 6 science topics: Layers of the Earth; Solid, Liquid & Gas; and Adaptation & Evolution. Each unit is comprised of a short video and a creative challenge. The App is accompanied by a free Rough Science Teacher Handbook, available from the iTunes store. "

The Australian version of Google TV isn't a television, it's a set-top box. This little box doesn't even include TV tuners for watching live broadcasts. Instead, Google TV aims to bring the best of the internet to your television.

IPAF (eye-paf) - aka The Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation. IPAF works to raise awareness of the value of film and television content and the impact of online piracy and encourage Australians to access this content via legitimate channels.

"Copyright has been firmly back on the agenda in recent months. We've seen the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) release its report on copyright which recommended that Australia adopt a "fair use" exception to copyright infringement. Yet we've also seen the Attorney General, George Brandis, get more exercised about copyright piracy this month, and pledge to do something to address it:"

"Abolishing homework The recent French announcement has led to calls for the abolition of homework in some German and American schools. So should homework be abolished in Australia? The answer to this question requires a closer look at what homework is supposed to do, and whether it achieves these goals for students of all backgrounds."

"Woolworths and Coles have taken the supermarket war to the cloud, with the two giant Australian retailers taking diametrically opposed options via Google Apps and Office365."

A fantastic read, if not for the fascinating history of reading education in the US. However it totally applies to the Australian context too.

"State education departments are unlikely to roll out iPads as part of the federal government's digital education revolution program because of the device's technical shortcomings."

"Connect.ed is an innovative, self-paced cybersafety education program offered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) as part of Cybersmart. Connect.ed provides teachers with the flexibility of a self paced environment to learn about current online behaviours of students, potential risks involved in these activities, a teacher's and school's duty of care and the appropriate tools, resources and strategies to help students to have safe and positive experiences online."

"Bebras is an international student challenge whose goal is to promote computational thinking for teachers and students (ages 8-17 / school years 3-12). Bebras is aligned with and supports information and communication technology curricula across Australia. Bebras Australia is run by NICTA under the Digital Careers program, funded by the Australian Government. It's a great way to get students interested and participating in information and communication technology (ICT) which could lead to an interest in pursuing a career in the exciting ICT industry!"

While there will never be a replacement for a paper book with dog-eared pages, hand written notes in the margins, a broken spine and a proudly worn cover with a hint of dirt and stains, there is an exciting new option to transform the practice of reading to make it more social and collaborative.  Subtext is an intriguing iPad application that allows users to read books collaboratively.  While reading, participants can insert text, emotions, questions, links and thoughts into the margins of the book.  When other readers jump into the text they can see the notations and reply to the existing thoughts in a discussion thread that is neatly tucked away into the margins of the text.

"Schoolchildren are at risk of having their online activity tracked and monitored for targeted advertising by internet firms through free cloud based education services. A survey has found that many parents do not know about data mining - the process of tracking email and web browsing habits in order to target advertising - but once they do they have grave concerns for their kids' online privacy, and believe schools need to do more to protect it. The survey commissioned by American IT industry group SafeGov asked 1000 Australian parents about their knowledge of data mining."

Expressions of Interest for the Australian Curriculum: Technologies curriculum writers and advisory group members

Another edition of the annual Horizon Report has just been released, this one focusing specifically on the context of Australian Tertiary Education from 2012-2017. 

Every Australian student will study the arts from their first year of school under the new national arts curriculum, which was released today for public consultation.