OZ/NZ educators

"The term 'work-life balance' is a myth and sets many people up for failure. They either feel like their lives aren't balanced, or they don't have an understanding of what actually balance is."

"Do you know many people who make use of sarcasm routinely? Sarcasm is quick to offend. We can try ignoring it, but this is ultimately not an answer."

Some criteria that could help teachers choose the right learning game for their classroom.

Quickly done that reflect on your answers and the ones they suggest. Good discussion starter.

"In order to convince teachers of the possible benefits of using a new technology, such as Twitter, we decided to look for evidence of its qualities. What in particular, does Twitter offer educators? Is it worth getting involved?" 30 leading educators (with an interest in educational technology) were identified. They were the ones who were currently using Twitter. The study analysed samples of their tweets in order to determine their purpose and the possible benefits of the tweets to their followers. Also examined were a sample of tweets from the twitter streams of two popular educational hashtags: #edchat and #edtech, in order to determine what 'followers' may gain."

"Offers a way of learning about the different types of help-seeking behaviors in students and what might work with each."

An interesting annotated list that is organised by how each tool is used.

Through the narration and illustration of photos, Clarisketch saves time and improves the quality of messaging using a combination of photographs and annotated commentary. Clarisketch enables you to quickly comment and draw on diagrams, map routes, photos etc and share it with friends/colleagues via email, Facebook, Google+, Twitter or other social networks.

"A model for educators when it comes to increasing team effectiveness, highlighting seven takeaways:"

"While attending the recent Teachmeet at Lt Markov, +Roland Gesthuizen posed the question, what do you expect from +Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria? It is a part of a bigger question that I don't believe we ask very often, what we actually expect from an educational association? It got me thinking about how these expectations have changed in the last few years."

"Policy makers and researchers have long focused on trying to combat 'disengaged' behaviours, rather than on understanding and promoting engagement among students. This focus only captures part of the issue - engagement is a complex cognitive process, including a student's psychological investment in their own learning and personal learning strategies.1 The internal nature of much engagement means that it is difficult to define and measure. As such, it has been hard for researchers and policy makers to determine which solutions can aid engagement and the impact student engagement can have on learning outcomes."

"ITSL, in collaboration with the Centre of Program Evaluation at the University of Melbourne are conducting a three-year process and impact evaluation of the implementation of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. The purpose of the Evaluation is to assess the usefulness, effectiveness and impact of the Standards on improving teacher quality. Over 6,002 respondents including teachers, school leaders, pre-service teachers and teacher educators participated in the 2013 National Survey. Initial analysis from the survey highlights the key findings below."

"ITSL, in collaboration with the Centre of Program Evaluation at the University of Melbourne are conducting a three-year process and impact evaluation of the implementation of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. The purpose of the Evaluation is to assess the usefulness, effectiveness and impact of the Standards on improving teacher quality. Over 6,002 respondents including teachers, school leaders, pre-service teachers and teacher educators participated in the 2013 National Survey. Initial analysis from the survey highlights the key findings below."

National Poetry Month: Exemplars from EDSITEment: Poetry for the Common Core

This is an online comic creator. It offers flexibility and quite a lot of customization with the options and features. This flexibility in Bitstrips comics allows you to create virtually any story that you can imagine.

List with biographies of 35 educators who are innovating education through using technology. With links to them online.