QR Treasure Hunt Generator! Get students using their mobile devices to move and to learn

From Technology Bits, Bytes and Nibbles....worth a follow up!

On July 23, 2011, in 21st Century Skills, Apple/MAC, Apps, General, Interactive, iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, Technology, Tools, WoW Whats on the Web, by Cyndi Danner-Kuhn

This QR code thing is pretty cool. I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago, Turn a paper based book into an interactive book with QR Codes, and this week in my technology class, I did an exercise with my students. They are all future teachers, I showed them a couple examples of children’s books (grandkids) I did and asked them to bring something to class the next day so they could give it a try. Most brought children’s books, and not all worked well for the project. But, one student brought a road map of Kanas and found videos about various historical towns. One student, bought a book about the Rainforest, another a book about animals and so on. For the most part pretty good. But we did learn a few things…..

Continue reading at:

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Classroom 2.0 PD Activties

Classroom 2.0 PD activities you may be interested in - note the Sydney friendly times :-)


TECH TALK TUESDAYS: WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP 2.0? (Australia Series)
Tue 19 Jul 06:00AM New York / Tue 19 Jul 10:00AM GMT / Tue 19 Jul 08:00PM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. This will be an informal session where participants will be given the opportunity to share favourite websites, new or tried web 2.0 tools, projects they may want help with etc. Application sharing will be used where possible. Please come along and share in the conversations. Link to be provided.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/166780

BLOGGING+++ (Australia Series)
Wed 20 Jul 06:00AM New York / Wed 20 Jul 10:00AM GMT / Wed 20 Jul 08:00PM Sydney
Anne Mirtschin. Sue Wyatt will share how she is creating a travelling blog from the perspective of a Tasmanian Devil. Application sharing will show how she is creating it and what features are being added to it, to create and effective blog. Sue will also discuss the recent blogging challenge and share some of the amazing outcomes.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/166738

READING WORKSHOP WORKS (Host Your Own Webinar Series)
Thu 21 Jul 08:00PM New York / Fri 22 Jul 12:00AM GMT / Fri 22 Jul 10:00AM Sydney
Laura Candler. In many classrooms, students are improving their reading skills and showing growth on tests. But the real question is whether or not their improvement translates into a passion for reading. In this webinar, Laura Candler will share how you can get started with the reading workshop approach. This method not only improves reading skills, it inspires kids to learn to love reading.
http://www.learncentral.org/event/164211

South Korea plans to withdraw printed textbooks from schools by 2015

Thanks to Diana Scullard for passing this one on :-)

http://www.gizmag.com/south-korea-digitize-textbooks-2015/19109/

The South Korean ministry of education has announced a ground-breaking plan to digitize all textbooks which are in use in Korean schools and thus completely phase out printed materials by 2015. This opens a huge market for manufacturers of tablet PCs, laptops and smartphones as the Korean education ministry has revealed it will spend US$2.4 billion on buying appropriate devices and digitizing content for them.

Read the full article at:
http://www.gizmag.com/south-korea-digitize-textbooks-2015/19109/

The 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology in Schools

http://mindshift.kqed.org/tag/adam-s-bellow/

Sometimes teachers and administrators need a kick in the pants to see what they perceive as problems re-framed in a different way. Adam S. Bellow, author of The Tech Commandments, and founder of eduTecher, spoke to a roomful of receptive teachers at the recent ISTE 2011 conference, and demonstrated some of the ironies and contradictions the education system is mired in. And he had some advice

A summary....
1) DON’T TRAP TECHNOLOGY IN A ROOM.
2) TECHNOLOGY IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
3) MOBILE TECHNOLOGY STRETCHES A LONG WAY.
4) THE NEW ‘F WORD’ IS FEAR
5) TECH TOOLS ARE NOT JUST A PASSING FAD
6) MONEY IS NOT THE PROBLEM.
7) INVITE EVERY STAKEHOLDER TO THE CONVERSATION

Read the full article at
http://mindshift.kqed.org/tag/adam-s-bellow/

A global issue

THE Journal - K-12 Trends Article

Pulling Together a Small School Tech Upgrade
When Kathy Peck came onboard as principal at Saint Joseph School a year ago, the Rockville, CT-based institution was pretty far behind on the technology curve. With 110 students, the K-8 school had a single computer lab that over time had become defunct.
More
http://thejournal.com/Articles/2011/07/07/Pulling-Together-a-Small-School-Tech-Upgrade.aspx?Page=2#

Teacher Competency Audit

For those preparing for their school IT Planning, a tool that might be useful in helping to determin ICT professional development is a Teacher Competency Audit. 

A generic version of this has been placed in the School IT Plan section of the wiki.

Happy Auditing :-)

iPads in Special Education

iPads in Special Education

A document produced by Student Wellbeing Division of the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

This document is being uploaded onto the Wiki under Ipads.  It has useful applications, rankings for development levels and categorises into features such as organisational tools, reading, writing etc.

If you're looking at ipads...take a look.

Texthelp Read&Write 10 GOLD: an introduction

Hello everyone....hope you are enjoying holidays.

This came to my attention....an opportunity to join an introduction to Read&Write Gold 10 in an online environment. 

One hour after school. 

You’ll need an internet connection and you need to be able to install a little piece of software off the web  (I did this recently and it took about 10 minutes just following prompts). 

Texthelp Read&Write 10 GOLD: an introduction

Texthelp Read&Write 10 GOLD is a literacy support tool designed to assist users of all ages who require extra assistance when reading, composing text or undertaking research. This introductory session will step participants through the support features of the program including using speech feedback, accessing spelling and dictionary support, writing supported by word prediction, and utilising the inbuilt research and study tools.

Session length – 45 min

Available Sessions

Date: Thursday, 28th July 2011
Time: 3:15pm AEST
Presenter: Greg O'Connor

Date: Thursday, 11th August 2011
Time: 3:15pm AEST
Presenter: Greg O'Connor

Date: Thursday, 18th August 2011
Time: 3:15pm AEST
Presenter: Greg O'Connor

Web Page is at: http://www.spectronicsinoz.com//onlinetraining#sessions

CECNSW Student Health Care: new e-learning program (ref: 132/11)

CECNSW Student Health Care: new e-learning program (ref: 132/11)


A new e-learning program for teachers is now available on the CEC website. It is accessible at http://stage.cecnsw.catholic.edu.au/student_health_care/main.htm
This resource enables teachers to familiarise themselves with key requirements for managing student health in schools. This accessible, interactive e-learning program has been produced by CECNSW for teachers.

The CECNSW Student Health Care <http://stage.cecnsw.catholic.edu.au/student_health_care/main.htm>  course is in the process of being registered with the NSW Institute of Teachers so that teachers, registered with the Institute, will be able to count on-line course time towards their Professional Learning requirements.

Additional new health resources can be found on the CEC website under Programs/Compliance – Student Health and Safety.

Please review this e-learning program and let CEC know what you think. Feedback should be directed to Paul Mastronardi <mailto:paul.mastronardi@cecnsw.catholic.edu.au> , CEC State Coordinator-Student Wellbeing, tel 9287 1583.