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"Australia finally has its first digital technology curriculum which is mandatory for all Australian children from Foundation, the name replacing kindergarten, to Year 8. The Technologies area now has two individual but connected compulsory subjects: Design and Technologies, where students use critical thinking to create innovative solutions for authentic problems Digital Technologies, where students using computational thinking and information systems to implement digital solutions."

"What does privacy mean in an age of ongoing privacy breaches? With new privacy law coming online in Australia on March 12, our Privacy in Practice series explores the practical challenges facing Australian business and consumers in a world rethinking privacy."

The Leading Curriculum Change program will enhance teachers' knowledge, skills and confidence to effectively lead curriculum change, particularly local implementation of the Australian Curriculum.It will be a unique opportunity to learn with teachers from across Australia in a national professional learning community.Bringing curriculum to life through innovation and excellence. Teachers will experience a high quality, evidence-based, interactive online professional learning program that is designed by experts for adult learners.

Some Australians who haven't secured their wireless networks may soon be getting a (relatively friendly) visit from the police. It seems that a few officers intend to do a little wardriving in order to find unsecured networks and warn the owners of possible problems.

How to use minecraft to teach across schools. "Minecraft is an engaging platform for creativity, computational thinking, collaboration and learning. Crafting learning opportunities in Minecraft between schools is a wonderful opportunity to develop student collaboration and ICT for learning skills. Mineclass, started by a bunch of Australian Microsoft Expert Educators, was conceived to make interschool Minecraft projects a reality"

"Almost a third of all owners of a smart TV are yet to connect it to the internet, but with the web spilling out of the computer domain and into every facet of people's lives, including this 'traditional' channel, that won't remain the case for long. Data is for the Australian market as of March 2012."

"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."

"This website is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The Safe Schools Toolkit explores the detailed characteristics of the National Safe Schools Framework, providing case studies and an online audit tool to pinpoint the areas of priority."

Who owns your social media posts? Former Australian Copyright Council employee, lawyer Ian McDonald considers the copyright issues

"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."

"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."

"Demand on wireless networks is climbing as more and more people use their mobile devices to access applications like email and Twitter. It might seem like a carbon neutral activity but Australian researchers estimate that the global energy consumption by wireless networks will grow by 460 per cent over the next two years. In emissions terms, that's the equivalent of 4.9 million extra cars on the road. Professor Rod Tucker is the director of the University of Melbourne's Centre for Energy Efficient Telecommunications, and he explained the impact of the shift to Lexi Metherell."

Interesting information although it is not Australian. It would be great to see this kind of research done in Australia as we have a great deal of differences in attitude and management of this issue than our northern neighbours.

"MORE Australians are eschewing traditional textbooks to seek out online instructional videos on everything from science to cooking. The trend is driving a new wave of Aussie "internet-preneurs", savvy YouTube stars who are raking in cash for clicks and ditching their regular jobs for a life of internet fame."

"This animation was produced on behalf of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, and aims at encouraging education leaders to develop a framework for teachers learning."

"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. "

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