Don't miss out on using this terrific service-ETIS

                                     
       EDUCATION AND TRAINING INFORMATION SERVICE

Have you visited the  ETIS website  and especially the e-form request page?
You can request a search.

ETIS also has access to many specialised databases and provides a comprehensive search service. 


You might also be interested in subscribing to some alerts (very popular information service) or have a browse through the research spotlights
The current topics of research include:
 Aboriginal education and learning technologies

Adobe and Microsoft software in education

Computer games

Cyberbullying

Effects of quality teaching on student outcomes

Interactive whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards in industry

Laptop initiatives

Moodle*

Social media

Student retention and engagement in high school

Sustainability

Workforce skills

YouTube in education


ETIS provides a section on effective searching of the internet


There is also a section where ETIS have compiled a list of links which focus on:

Government – Commonwealth, state and local

Educational departments

Educational organisations

Reference sources

Do you have a special anniversary coming up?

ETIS can provide you with historical information on both schools and TAFE in NSW.
School files which include school histories
Subject information files on various aspects of school education
Reference collection including various departmental publications, published histories and major reviews
A range of digitised photos covering school history *
School teachers' records *  (some details are not available due to privacy issues)The history information collection includes:

Interactive Whiteboards: Leading us into the 21st century or chaining us to the past?

Chris Betcher is an Australian teacher, author, blogger and podcaster. 

He blogs about education, technology and ideas at betchablog.com, and produces The Virtual Staffroom, a podcast featuring conversations with leading teachers about the use of technology in the classroom. 

He has presented at conferences and workshops in Australia, New Zealand and Canada on the effective use of technology for learning, and is an active member of the online global educational community. 

Chris is also the co-author of the book “The Interactive Whiteboard Revolution”.

"Love them or hate them, interactive whiteboards seem to have become a part of today’s modern classroom.  There are many teachers who see them as a wonderful ‘window to the world’, able to open their classrooms up to a plethora of digital experiences, make learning richer and more engaging in the process.  Then there are others who see IWBs as the devil incarnate, a scourge on the educational landscape that sets our classrooms back by thirty years. They claim them to be setting the sage back on the stage and ruining the student focused nature of the classroom."

VSR30: The Whiteboard Conundrum   November 1st, 2009

In this episode as we speak with Rob Newberry, James Hollis, Danny Nicholson, Martin Levins and Stuart Walsh, five experienced and opinionated IWB users and try to explore some of the bigger, deeper questions behind the use of IWB technology.

Interactive Whiteboards: Leading us into the 21st Century or chaining us to the past?

View more presentations from Chris Betcher.

Love to hear from you

National Literacy and Numeracy Week is coming up soon.

National Literacy and Numeracy Week (NLNW) is an Australian Government initiative conducted in collaboration with the Government, Catholic and Independent education sectors. It will be celebrated in all States and Territories from 29 August to 4 September 2010.

Aim of NLNW

The Week represents a collaborative approach by the Australian Government and the school community to highlight the importance of effective literacy and numeracy skills for all children and young people.

The week gives schools the opportunity to get involved in a range of activities and to recognise locally the achievements of students and the work of teachers, parents and members of the community who support young people to develop stronger literacy and numeracy skills.

"Learning for Living" - Our theme for 2010

 Literacy site

In the 21st century, the definition of literacy has expanded to refer to a flexible, sustainable mastery of a set of capabilities in the use and production of traditional texts and new communications technologies using spoken language, print and multimedia.

Students need to be able to adjust and modify their use of language to better meet contextual demands in varying situations.

Visit  National Literacy and Numeracy Week website.

A suite of teacher professional learning and parent support videos is available for viewing.

There are also many  Kids Links on literacy and numeracy available.

 

Great spelling activities for your class from Bits and Pieces.

 How common are spelling difficulties?
Almost all people with developmental reading or language disabilities have great difficulty spelling. In the new definition of dyslexia, people with the condition known as dyslexia are noted to have “conspicuous” problems with spelling and writing.  Ginger is a free download. 

A well designed program for students who do not learn easily will emphasize the sounds in the words, the letter combinations that usually spell those sounds, the spellings of six basic syllable types, and how the spelling rules of English work.

In summary, effective spelling instructions should emphasize these principles:  

• knowledge of sounds, letter-sound
• association, patterns, syllables, and meaningful parts;
• multisensory practice; 
• systematic, cumulative study of patterns;
• memorizing a few “sight” words at a time;
• writing those words correctly many times;
• using the words in personal writing.

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) thanks Louisa Cook Moats, Ed.D. for her assistance in the preparation of this fact sheet. from Spelling Facts

By: International Dyslexia Association (2008) http://www.gingersoftware.com/articles/spelling_facts

Bits and Pieces is @2Sparkley's blog. Her class enjoys these spelling activities. She kindly posted them to share with othere teachers like yourselves. . They are able to be printed on A3 if you wish.

If you are looking for other good spelling sites check out this:

Good Spelling sites on-line training videos. Part of the TeachertrainingVideos.com site. You can find many more free on-line training videos.

For those of you who had kids who like pirates try : Poop deck pirates

and for a little online word finding fun try:  WORD CRUNCHER

Here are some Interesting ways to support spelling in the classroom organised by Tom Barrett. You are welcome to add your own ideas.
 

Check out Bits and Pieces for other great teaching resources....

How to add a watermark on your work for identification once printed.

Check out my new abodo-very green and clean

 Think clean environment:  recycling, saving water, saving energy...these issues are considered and more, in this activity.

To create your own go to:  Myabodo

Great activity for our naturalist intelligence kids.
(Thanks Pip for the suggestion on twitter)

Unfortunately the tool section has been closed, but there is still plenty of choosing to do. 

The website allows you to explore other abodos to compare and discuss their merits.

Closing soon – WeCreate: Greeting Card Design Awards

2010 August 11

Attention: All K-12 Executive and classroom teachers

Christmas in August?

Although we are only half way through 2010 the WeCreate: Greeting Card Design Awards are closing soon!

This competition is open to Primary and Secondary students in NSW Departmental schools (NSW DET login only) and gives them the chance to design the front of a card suitable for the Christmas holiday season. The card design should communicate a message of goodwill, harmony and celebration that would be appreciated by all community members.

The winning design will be selected by the Director General of Education.

All entries in the WeCreate: Greeting Card Design competition must be submitted by 6:00 pm AEST on 11 August 2010.

For full details : Greeting Card Design Awards competition

All WeCreate Awards and Challenges can be mapped across a range of curriculum areas.

For details of these great awards and challenges 

Digital Tools for Teachers

Digital Tools for Teachers Toolboxes

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Summary: More than 2,000 teachers were recently surveyed about the Web 2.0 tools that they and their students most commonly used. This presentation by clifmims ,will provide a hands-on introduction to these tools along with teacher-created and student-created examples. Strategies for implementation will be shared. 

Vocabulary Games

These games suit from Kinder - Year 12

What a way to build vocabulary..great ideas to support learning

Try some for homework-students without computers at home 

would be most welcome in the library to try these games.

Analogy Games
Syllable Games
Contraction Games
Parts of Speech Games
Spelling Games
Compound Word Games
Homophone Games
Foreign Language Games
Root Word Games
Context Games
Antonym Games
Synonym Games
Prefix Games
Suffix Games
Word Play Games
Oxymoron Games
Hig Pig Games
Idioms Games 

There are  many games to choose from in each section. Try this one:

Break It Up: Place the line between the letters to show where the apostrophe goes in these contractions.

Where Does the Apostrophe Go?

Blogging can be a great tool to encourage a student to write.

 Young Emily from 3S (Blog Dogs) has now posted 7 parts to her story on her blog.

Emily's teacher, Mr Squires, introduced the class to blogging at the beginning of the year. 
Some students have now started creating their own blogs.

Have a read of her story:

The scary night – a choose your own adventure story. Part 1.

follow the rest of her story  from the blog.

Leading Schools with Digital Vision in a Bubblesheet World

Get a drink and put your feet up for this one.

Leading Schools with Digital Vision in a Bubblesheet World

View more presentations from Wesley Fryer.

Podcast350: Leading Schools with Digital Vision in a Bubblesheet World (Part 1 of 2)

Open publication - Free publishing - More 21st century

ACARA update: New genre in 2011 writing test

In 2011 NAPLAN writing test, students will be asked to write in a persuasive style.

The decision to change from narrative to persuasive was made by all Australian Education Ministers at a Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) meeting held on April 15, 2010.

For further details ACARA UPDATE

Tutorial on new tools in Notebook 10.6

Do you want to use Quest Atlantis with your class?

 "Quest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-16, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with lessons from educational research on learning and motivation. Participation in this game is designed to enhance the lives of children while helping them grow into knowledgeable, responsible, and empathetic adults. Explore our site and learn more about this exciting project."

For information on this program: Voices of QA -Official QA Blog

QA develops seven areas:

 * Creative Expression – "I Create"
* Diversity Affirmation – "Everyone Matters"
* Personal Agency – "I Have Voice"
* Social Responsibility – "We Can Make a Difference"
* Environmental Awareness – "Think Globally, Act Locally"
* Healthy Communities – "Live, Love, Grow"
* Compassionate Wisdom – "Be Kind"

Through participation in Quest Atlantis, youth will come to value their own communities and to recognize not only that their communities value them, but that even young people can make important contributions in their communities and in the world."

Face-to-face training at MacICT, Sydney10th June, 2010.

What’s Burning in eLearning?

 – What’s on the Horizon for P-12 schools?


WHEN: Wednesday, June 2, 2010, 4 – 5pm

PRESENTER(S): Mark Richardson


SUMMARY: What will be the latest emerging technologies that will hit schools in the next few years? How pedagogically sound are they? How will these technologies enhance teaching and learning? Will schools, teachers and students readily take them up? Tony Richards from ITmadeSimple, will discuss the projections of The Horizon Report 2010 K-12 Edition, as well as sharing his ideas on the topic. What do you think of cloud computing, collaborative tools, game based learning, and mobile devices? These are rapidly becoming part on the school landscape. While others such as Augmented Reality and Flexible Displays may be just


over the horizon..

Click here for the SESSION LINK:

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges

 the way we're educating our children.

 He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to

cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

In this video Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a

radical shift from standardised schools to personalised learning --

creating conditions where kids' natural talents can flourish.

Check out our new NSWDET BlogED tool.

2009 comes to an end.

Check out the animoto film clip of our teachers:

2009 means retirement 4 some.

The Differentiator

The Differentiator is a great tool for assisting teachers with the

planning of differentiated lessons: 

Students will ...

First, pick a thinking skill...then

content

resources

product

groups

Revised Bloom's Taxonomy adapted from "A Taxonomy for Learning,Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives" by Anderson and Krathwohl.

 

Love to hear from you

BER Primary School Library and Classrooms

 There are two handouts available to give you more information about 

our new BER buildings:

BER Primary School Library (New Build Projects)
BER Primary School Classrooms (New Build Projects)

ADHD kids trade ritalin for recess and running!!

In a blog called "Schools Matter" there is a recent post called New Cure for ADHD: Recess.

The post discusses the results of a report on school-based physical activity and its association with academic performance, based on a review of 50 studies published in 43 articles 

Conclusion:-for those of you who don't have time to read the post (not long)

"Rambunctiousness in children is normal. And it should be treated with recess, not Ritalin!"

The program, available to all for free at http://www.davidkatzmd.com/abcforfitness.aspx, not only allows for intermittent bursts of activity throughout the day whenever kids 'need' one, but matches aerobic routines to grade level and subject matter.  

Teaching time actually goes up!

Ten Disruptive Uses of Your IWB

I found this fascinating quote today:

As I said before, there is a great temptation to be the didactic teacher when you have this type of technology. While it is fun to play with the toys, you will be surprised when you give your students the opportunity to try their hand at working on the board – and not just to write one word or to circle the mistake in a maths problem. Give groups of students control of the board for extended lengths of time, use your IWB as a station in a learning journey. Even just to brainstorm what they have learnt at the end of the day.Hall Jackson, The Interactive Classroom, May 2010

You should read the whole article.

Professional Learning needs to take a new direction.

 Ben Jones is a Professional Learning and Curriculum Support Project officer with the NSWDET Program delivering the Digital Education Revolution is NSW Public Schools.

Recently Ben posted: If we can’t teach ourselves, who can we teach?
Ben states that: "We are at a cross road with professional learning. Down Status Quo Avenue we can continue to feed, structure and support our dependence on the 16th century professional learning models. The alternative path leads down ‘New Directions’ street requires us to evaluate our position, and then most importantly we need to play our position.

The provision of the Connected Classrooms in our schools and the widespread availability of webinars, online training modules and tutorials open many doors for growing knowledge.

Explore Ben's questions for reflection:
Consider what professional learning could look like?

I particularly love one these professional learning suggestions from Ben which would help build a strong and supportive school culture:

■Provide extra relief time post professional learning for teachers to
pay it forward making it part of school culture and
 ■Build a culture of play and exploration by time tabling 15 minutes play!!

DART provides rich resources for classes

Connections - Virtual Excursions for May 2010

Rural and Distance Education
NSW Department of Education and Training 

Connections Events for May 2010 Free Events Connections offers free Open events regularly.  These are usually of a more informative nature as opposed to highly interactive.  We do try to keep them as interactive as possible, but we also try to make them available to many schools, and it is difficult to deliver both! Please visit our website to view all our free events. Country Access Program - Astro Collie This term, Collie , our adventurous garden gnome is LOST IN SPACE. He has been exploring our Solar System and seems to have lost his way. He needs your help. By finding out as much as possible about the planets and celestial bodies in our Solar System you can help Collie. He will send clues each week to help you determine where he is. You can use this information to plot his course. Can you help him find his way home? Astro Collie's virtual excursions are available on: 12th May 2010 - Astro Collie - Journey Through the Solar System 18th May 2010 - Astro Collie - Weather in Space 25th May 2010 - Astro Collie - Stars and Planets 1st June 2010  - Astro Collie - Space Exploration 8th June 2010  - Astro Collie - Stars and Planets 22 June 2010   - Astro Collie - Careers in the Aerospace Industry Australian Museum You can now view  ALL Australian Muesum events for 2010 at our website. Their events available for May are listed below. Meet the Megafauna Join us for some fascinating insights into Australia’s megafauna. What are the megafauna – are they simply ‘large animals’ or is there more to the story? Meet some of Australia’s megafauna including our biggest and our most vicious predator. See their fossils and compare them with some living relations. This virtual excursion is available on: 17th May 2010 Paleontology Through Puppetry Winny Saurs a life size Muttaburrasaurs dinosaur puppet takes you to her world. Explore the Australian Museum fossil collection, talk to Museum staff and interact with Winny; to find out about her like and dislikes. This virtual excursion is available on: 18th May 2010 25th May 2010 Human Evolution Journey back through time to meet some of our ancestors – including the ‘ape-men’, ‘work men’, Neanderthals and the so-called ‘wise humans’. Find out about the major changes that made us human and use skull features to place our ancestors and ancestral cousins within our evolutionary family tree. This virtual excursion is available on: 19th May 2010 Coming Up - June Dynamic Earth What's In The Box - Dinosaur Puppet Show What's In The Box - Inside The Earth Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Our unique and affordable videoconferences let your students experience the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef without getting wet. Our videoconferences are filmed from within Reef HQ Aquarium, the world’s largest living coral reef aquarium, situated in Townsville, Australia, centre of the magnificent Great Barrier Reef. We can take you into the stunning Coral Reef and exciting Predator exhibits through state of the art videoconferencing technology. What will I see during a Reef Videoconference? a turtle, sharks, sawfish and rays amazingly colourful reef fish living coral in its many stunning shapes and colours some of the Great Barrier Reef’s most precious threatened and protected species … and so much more! Have your questions answered from deep in the tanks from our expert scuba divers who will be linked by microphone within the scuba mask. You can now view  ALL Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority events until July 2010 at our website. Kigluait Educational Adventures Video conferencing to Talkeetna, Alaska. Meet sled dogs, drive a sled and meet the Mushers. Kigluait Educational Adventures offers complete standards-based video conference programs, customizable curriculums, and training via onsite, video conference, and web-based communication tools. The Mushing Series explores the lifestyle of running dogs in Alaska - from racing the Iditarod to keeping your family warm and well fed throughout the long northern winter. There are six separate 1 hour video conference programs in this series. All are supported by Kigluait Curriculum Adventures online Moodle classroom, a daily Kennel Blog, and resource rich Flash Kennels website. You can now view  ALL Kigluait Educational Adventures events until July 2010 at our website. NASA - Space Center Houston NSW teachers and the NASA Space Center education specialists have collaborated to develop education modules and live virtual excursion experiences to the Space Center. These modules and excursions address NSW learning outcomes. You can now view  ALL available NASA Space Center dates until July 2010 at our website. Coming up in June 2010 Fizzics Education - NEW PROVIDER! Fizzics Education offer engaging hands-on experiments and interactive demonstrations designed to improve students understanding and appreciation of science. Our school science workshops have been previously assessed by the NSW Department of Education & Training Performances for Schools Unit. Enrich your curriculum and make your next incursion one to remember! Our science programmes are presented by qualified teachers, science communicators and science undergraduates each with experience in reaching audiences of all ages no matter what the setting . Coming virtual excursions for June include: Chemical Capers Stars and Planets Human Body Weather and Pressure You can now view  ALL Fizzics Educations events for 2010 at our website.

Blogging Is Rewarding

NSWDET has recently introduced BlogED Principals need to register to access this facility.

Check out what some other schools have been blogging about.

This tool will enable staff to quickly and easily establish blogs for each student, in every class, generated using ERN.

Read what Tim’s Blog de Blog has to say in his Education diary about BlogED:
Adoption of new technologies:

With the release of BlogED into its second month, we are quickly trying to assess its uptake. Since April 25, over 6 000 teachers now have been provisioned , and over 24% have actively built a blog. The rate of uptake of any new technology is always a source of interest, and needs to be carefully understood before we can say with any confidence if the adoption is what might be expected .

Are you ready to give it a go?

Teaching-You can make a difference

Love to hear from you

Broadcast Sport- We Create Challenge

 Here's another message from                     Ruth Mason

                                                                                      Senior Learning Design Officer

Learning Design and Services 

Centre for Learning Innovation you shouldn't miss!!

Another term, another terrific opportunity for students to use ICT. Broadcast sport is the next WeCreate Challenge for 2010 and students have from 19 April until 3 May to upload their story to the Broadcast website 

For this challenge students celebrate the sporting achievements of a team or individual in their school. They can also view those of other schools via the website’s Newsroom.

See some of the stories submitted during the first Broadcast challenge (Broadcast: News) by visiting the Newsroom 

The Broadcast sport challenge is one of the WeCreate: Connected Learning Awards and the WeCreate challenges which are being conducted throughout 2010 and can be mapped across a range of curriculum areas.

For details of all the great WeCreate awards and challenges including a downloadable flyer.

We Create: Digital Story Awards

 Have you seen this message from:Ruth Mason
Senior Learning Design Officer

Learning Design and Services

Centre for Learning Innovation yet?

Do your students enjoy storytelling?

Here’s a chance to combine words, images, music, sound and other media to tell a story of human migration.  This award is a collaborative project between the Centre for Learning Innovation and the National Museum of Australia.

All entries must be submitted to the WeCreate: Digital Story Awards website by 6:00 pm AEST on 19 May 2010.

For full details of this competition go to http://www.cli.nsw.edu.au/digitalstory.

For promotional material you could display in your school click on the Digital Story Awards flyer.

For details of these great awards and challenges go to  http://www.cli.nsw.edu.au/services/wecreate/wecreate.htm and for a list of the closing dates, click on the WeCreate flyer.

Are the New Millennium Learners Making the Grade?

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) releases a new report on technology use and educational performance in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) an international organisation helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalised economy.. Australia is one of the 65 countries involved in the study.  

Francesc Pedró

·         OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation extends an invitation for you to have your say:

Dear all,

The OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, in cooperation with the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry and with the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Education, has just released a new report on technology use and educational performance using PISA data.

The report Are the New Millennium Learners Making the Grade? analyses to what extent investments in technology enhance educational outcomes. One of the most striking findings of this study is that the digital divide in education goes beyond the issue of access to technology. A new second form of digital divide has been identified: the one existing between those who have the right competencies to benefit from computer use, and those who do not. These competencies and skills are closely linked to the economic, cultural and social capital of the student.

This finding has important implications for policy and practice. Governments should make an effort to clearly convey the message that computer use matters for the education of young people and do their best to engage teachers and schools in raising the frequency of computer use to a level that becomes relevant. If schools and teachers are really committed to the development of 21st century competencies, such an increase will happen naturally. And only in these circumstances will clear correlations between technology use and educational performance emerge.

Browse it at http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?k=5KSCG4J39DHB&lang=en

As we have now started the preparations for a new edition using PISA 2009 data, your comments and suggestions for improvements will be extremely welcome.