Group items tagged

Today saw the launch of Microsoft's Office 365 cloud collaboration and communication suite that is specifically aimed at schools and universities, replacing Live@edu, which will remain available for 18 more months to give its customers time to migrate into the newer software, writes Juan Carlos Perez for IDG News.

Looking for something to jazz up your literacy lesson? Check out Domo by goannimate. A free animation tool that allows you to create funky looking animations. A great tool for any literacy lesson especially if wanting to emphasise dialog, setting and characterisation for creative writing. 

We tend to rewrite the histories of technological innovation, making myths about a guy who had a great idea that changed the world. In reality, though, innovation isn't the goal; it's everything that gets you there. It's bad financial decisions and blueprints for machines that weren't built until decades later. It's the important leaps forward that synthesize lots of ideas, and it's the belly-up failures that teach us what not to do. When we ignore how innovation actually works, we make it hard to see what's happening right in front of us today. If you don't know that the incandescent light was a failure before it was a success, it's easy to write off some modern energy innovations - like solar panels - because they haven't hit the big time fast enough. Worse, the fairy-tale view of history implies that innovation has an end. It doesn't. What we want and what we need keeps changing. The incandescent light was a 19th-century failure and a 20th- century success. Now it's a failure again, edged out by new technologies, like LEDs, that were, themselves, failures for many years. That's what this issue is about: all the little failures, trivialities and not-quite-solved mysteries that make the successes possible. This is what innovation looks like. It's messy, and it's awesome.

"Cropper is a screen capture utility written in C#. It makes it fast and easy to grab parts of your screen. Use it to easily crop out sections of vector graphic files such as Fireworks without having to flatten the files or open in a new editor. Use it to easily capture parts of a web site, including text and images. It's also great for writing documentation that needs images of your application or web site. "

Making movies on a shoestring budget? No need hunting for talented actors, building a stage or even writing a script. A bit of clay or a toy can be the star of your animated masterpiece. Spending quality time with your kids? Watch them tap their creative potential and be amazed at what they create. iStopMotion for iPad is also ideal for use in the classroom and in all disciplines, honing creativity, problem-solving and communication skills in students of all ages.

"The electorate of Indi has been changed forever, write Cambell Klose and Nick Haines from Cathy McGowan's campaign"

"A federal government discussion paper has proposed the creation of a children's e-safety commissioner to help protect children from cyber-bullying on social media. However not everyone agrees on the proposal, which opponents say is a slippery slope to government censorship, writes Damien Carrick."

"The Google Docs collection provides a streamlined, collaborative solution to writing papers, organizing presentations and putting together spreadsheets and reports. But besides the basic features, there are lots of little tricks and hacks you can use to make your Google Docs experience even more productive. Here are 100 great tips for using the documents, presentations and spreadsheets in Google Docs."

"If students find NAPLAN tests too stressful, wait till they find out what it's like trying to get a driver's licence or a good job if they're illiterate, writes Jennifer Buckingham."

"Subtext is a free iPad app that allows classroom groups to exchange ideas in the pages of digital texts. You can also layer in enrichment materials, assignments and quizzes-opening up almost limitless opportunities to engage students and foster analysis and writing skills."

"With Dictation, you can use the magic of speech recognition to write emails, narrate essays and long documents in the browser without touching the keyboard. To get started, just connect the microphone to your computer and click the Start Dictation button. Dictation uses your browser's local Storage to save all the transcribed text automatically as you speak. That means you can close the browser and it will resume from where you left off."

You can now give students voice feedback about their writing in Google Docs.

All you need is an old footy sock and you can make your own iPad stylus. "Fortunately, it's quite easy to make a soft, conductive writing tool using some pretty basic materials.  All you need is a pencil, an anti-static sock, and some patience to cut and sew it all together."

From the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog - post "the apps cover a wide variety of skills including writing, presentation making, mind mapping, referencing, and many more. In fact, I could not offer you any better than this great list for back to school. "

Website with different tools to support teaching of civics and citizenship. US based but could be adapted to other settings. Interesting 'drafting board' tool which scaffolds students to write a persuasive piece.

Remember 'Logo?' Now you can write your code and run it in a browser window.

Wouldn't it be great if each line was highlighted as the program ran so you could see visually what each line of code was doing?

A range of digital tools are listed that will allow students to reflect or comment on issues or put their own point of view. They are listed under headings such as writing, multimedia, speaking, performing/directing and artistic expression. Each offers a discussion about the strategy, the tools that could be used and ideas about measuring success.

"A mind mapping application for Android devices. The app allows you to create mind maps through freehand drawing and or by typing on the screen. All of the mind maps that you create in MindBoard Free can be saved to your Google Drive account. Once the mind map is in your Google Drive account you can open it on any other device. One of the more thoughtful features of MindBoard Free is palm-input rejection which rejects accidental input from brushing your palm on the screen while writing."

Since beginning humans get mesmerized with stories. They enjoy every part of it but only if it's interesting. A good story can create a memorable impact on the listener. Don't get surprised, yes we are going to talk about resumes only! Get more and more career oriented tips from our team of professional by login into www.oompfh.com