Pisa Sample Questions for those interested in some of the finer details of what makes up a PISA test. 

Looking at the New Directions for school leadership and the teaching profession discussion paper, the only evidence presented to support the assertion that Victoria's education outcomes are not improving is the report "Challenges in Australian Education: results from PISA 2009: the PISA 2009 assessment of students' reading, mathematical and scientific literacy" Specifically the New Directions paper focuses on reading literacy, where in 2009, 14,251 students were given a two-hour pen and paper comprehension test. To get an idea of what types of competencies the reading test is assessing we can look at the sample test , with questions range from comprehension about a letter in a newspaper, the ability to interpret a receipt, comprehension around a short story, an informational text, and interpreting a table. While it doesn't seem unreasonable to want our students to be able to accurately perform these kind of tasks, these tests are not a true or accurate representation of the skills and competencies our students need in today's technology driven world.

As games, particularly virtual worlds, become increasingly popular and as they begin to approximate large scale social systems in size and nature, they have also become spaces where play and learning have merged in fundamental ways. More important is the idea that the kind of learning that happens in the spaces of these massively multiplayer online games is fundamentally different than what we have come to consider as standard pedagogical practice. The distinction the authors make is that traditional paradigms of instruction have addressed learning as "learning about," while these new forms of learning deal with knowledge through the dynamic of "learning to be." It is the authors' contention that the experiences offered within virtual worlds provide a fundamentally different way of thinking about

Nearly 1 in 5 gamers play social network games and 1 in 10 massively  multiplayer games. Growing social and online play is driving interest in online content. One in five gamers say they would either be "motivated" or "very motivated" to sign up to a faster broadband  service for game downloads and online play.

This is way cool. A map of the Internet done graphically to look like a universe. The visual learner will get a lot from this one.

On June 21 2012, the Government released a discussion paper which states its vision for the improvement of the teaching profession. The 'New Directions for School Leadership and the Teaching Profession,' aims to stimulate and inform discussion on the future of the teaching profession and school leadership.  As a collective of grass roots teachers, who are not currently being asked to participate in educational debates and discussion, we see this as an opportunity to enable teachers' voice.   Teachers: A great, yet untapped, source for policy makers.

10 Things in School That Should Be Obsolete | MindShift http://t.co/oBFO5FD via @Diigo and @Stephen_H #VICpln PLLlead

This could be fun for the more advanced maths students looking to play with a bit of Algebra. 

Great article that critiques the Khan Academy and flipped classroom worth a read.

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.

Another amazing Google Project. From the archaeological areas of Pompeii to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Google's World Wonders Project aims to bring to life the wonders of the modern and ancient world. By using our Street View technology, Google has a unique opportunity to make world heritage sites available to users across the globe. Street View is a hugely popular feature of Google Maps which is already available in dozens of countries. It allows users to virtually explore and navigate a neighborhood through panoramic street-level images. With advancements in our camera technologies we can now go off the beaten track to photograph some of the most significant places in the world so that anyone, anywhere can explore them.

Some interesting links here for people to explore if keen on boosting their ipad knowledge

Another review on some ios apps that you may have or may not have seen before

"Art does not solve problems, but makes us aware of their existence," sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz has said. Arts education, on the other hand, does solve problems. Years of research show that it's closely linked to almost everything that we as a nation say we want for our children and demand from our schools: academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity.

This is an ace trick that is simple and if you are needing to produce a load of qr codes or just add a few on the go... 

Tony Vincent's take on project based learning

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. 

The Buck Institute for Education (BIE) received a generous grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to help promote and provide deeper learning opportunities for teachers and students. Recognizing that 11,000 teachers will participate in BIE's 3-day PBL 101 workshop in 2012, the Hewlett Foundation helped BIE expand its professional development resources and expertise online. Now BIE can work with every school and every teacher through PBL University (PBLU). This summer, PBLU will pilot several Common Core aligned Math & English/Language Arts projects with complementary 2-week online classes. Teachers can receive PBL Teacher Certification from BIE, if they choose to complete all the necessary classes and implement the project with their students.