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Issue 37 - 2018 │T2 │W6

 

Link - access past issues in the archive

T4L Awards - what's next? News item

The deadline has now passed for entries to our inaugural T4L Awards. The nominations received have really highlighted for us many shining examples of innovative and trailblazing practice in the use of technology by a NSW public school or teacher. These inspiring activities are leading change, not only with each school's community, but are beacons for others to follow. They will help to inspire organisation-wide change. It will be so exciting to share these stories with all schools across NSW after the nominations are judged and awards determined. Right now, we are gearing towards a fantastic day in term 3 where we will showcase the work of all of our wonderful T4L award recipients at a special event with presentations by the department's Chief Information Officer, Stephen Loquet. So save the date below and check our week 9 issue of news.T4L for details to register and join us for a great day of professional learning and sharing.

The 2018 T4L Awards - Monday 13 August

Minecraft EE at Swansea High Peer item

The Minecraft Education Edition (MEE) early adopters program continues until general access starts in early term 3. Following the great MEE story from Chatswood Public School in this term's issue of Technology News for Schools, we see another exciting story from one of our participating high schools! Andrew Balzer from Swansea High School decided to make a quick video that showcases what Minecraft looks like in his year 8 classroom. Hear what the students think, and see what they are doing with this amazing collaborative tool. Andrew himself admits, "...it's nothing fancy, just pick up a tablet and make a short video clip. If you’re like me, you’ll get a bunch of ideas for shooting the video just by seeing how the room is set up, the positioning of students and their computers". Learn from this example of Swansea High's use of MEE or just enjoy the connected nature of their video! And why not share your school's stories?

Click to watch Swansea High's video!

Google Team Drives on an iPad Tip item

Many schools that have started using Google Team Drives to provide cloud access to their work files, are discovering a new convenience of access. By uploading work files that staff regularly use to a Team Drive, it means they can be accessed and worked on from anywhere and on just about any device. But some schools have reported that they can't see their Team Drives when using an iPad or iPhone. Access to the school's Team Drives on an iOS device requires the Google Drive app. But Google only recently updated their app to include Team Drives access. So the first step is to make sure you have the latest version of that app installed. If you still can't see your Team Drives under the ≡menu at the top-left, then you'll need to terminate the Drive app and restart it. You terminate the app on iOS by double-pressing the Home button, then swiping up on the Google Drive app.

Sign up for Young ICT Explorers! Information item

Young ICT Explorers is a competition where students in Years 3 through 12 produce a project that uses Digital Technologies / ICTs to solve a problem or share a passion. Projects submitted in previous years have included mobile phone/tablet apps, computer games, websites, short films/animations, robots and Arduino/ Raspberry Pi maker projects. The scope of the competition is kept broad to encourage as much creativity as possible through the use technology. All types of projects are welcome, providing they have a clear link to the Digital Technology/ICT curriculum. Individual students or teams of up to four are encouraged to enter. There are some great prizes on offer for the winners! But you'll need to hurry because registrations close this Friday, with the final project submitted by 24 June. Full details are in this information pack. What problem can your students solve with ICTs? Why not join Young ICT Explorers this year and show Australia?

Visit the Young ICT Expliorers competition page

T4L watchLIVE - Apple: Creativity Professional Learning item

Everyone is born full of creativity and yes, everyone can create! This term's Apple webcast as part of T4L watchLIVE will focus on how you can infuse core creative skills into the topics and subjects you teach every day. Join us, together with this term's Feature Teacher, Eric McCarron. Eric is a lifelong learner and educator, whose passion is to create fun learning experiences in which people are inspired to make their mark with their ideas and imagination. We'll explore the power of creativity with deep dives on music and drawing tools and get to know Apple’s newest releases, the Everyone Can Create teacher and student guides. Set your reminder and gather your staff for this Apple webcast at 3:30pm on Wed June 13. Remember, you can also visit the T4L watchLIVE site after the event to watch past webcasts on-demand.

Join us for this Apple webcast!

Adobe Connect desktop client Tip item

Do you attend or run Adobe Connect web conferencing sessions on a regular basis using certain computers? If yes, you can avoid technical hurdles around different browsers and Flash compatibility by using the dedicated Adobe Connect desktop client. It's available for both Windows and MacOS. Once installed, whenever you need to join or run a Connect session, just launch the client and paste in the Connect room's URL into the address box - eg. https://connect.schools.nsw.edu.au/T4Linnovations
Get the appropriate desktop client:

 

ICT Thought of the day Fun item

When the robots take over we will have to communicate in captchas to plan our revolt

Connecting Country Schools News item

It has been a busy few months on the Connecting Country Schools (CCS) project, with momentum building and milestones achieved! It's exciting times with installations in Group 2 schools progressing well and  Groups 3 & 4 schools now announced. Work is now underway in Group 3 schools and planning and communications have kicked-off in Group 4 schools. In addition to this, the schools in the CCS pilots have reached completion! One of these, Cooma North Public School, was the venue for a recent ministerial event where CCS was in action. With the mobility that CCS brings, the practical use of the STEMShare kits on display clearly highlighted the engaging teaching and learning that both projects will deliver to our regional and remote schools. We look forward to the announcement of the next groups of schools to join Connecting Country Schools!

Students using the STEMShare kits at Cooma North PS

Multimedia Solutions for schools News item

Help shape the future of Multimedia Solutions in our schools!
The department is currently conducting research to ensure the products available on the DoE online Catalogue meet the needs of our schools. We want the market to understand those needs and offer the latest and most appropriate range of multimedia and presentation equipment including:

  • Interactive touch-screen panels
  • MoCoWs (Mobile Computers on Wheels)
  • Interactive whiteboards (IWB)
  • Projectors
  • Audio visual equipment
  • Sound system equipment
  • Cameras

So what are your school's thoughts on these great educational tools? Have your say by participating in our short online survey.

New interactED dates confirmed! News item

The T4L Innovations Team will be taking interactED back on the road in terms 3 and 4 with two new dates confirmed! If Dubbo or Coffs Harbour are handy central locations for staff at your school to get to, then make sure they don't miss out on a place. We'll be providing booking information for both events in our next issue of news.T4L, so keep an eye out and get in early!

Save the Dates! interactED is back in terms 3 and 4!

Partner your school with Google! Information item

You may have noticed in the past year that Google have been working more closely with NSW DoE through initiatives such as our T4L webcasts and events. You've probably also noticed all the new great offerings that have been added to our G Suite service as well as the DoE Chromebook enrolment option. GoogleEDU is looking to develop deeper relationships with individual NSW public schools that are using their technologies. Are your teachers and students using G Suite for Education and/or Google Chromebooks quite extensively? Do you have best practices and key learnings you could share with other schools across NSW and Australia? If so, GoogleEDU wants to hear from you. Please visit their partnership information page and complete the form by June 29th!

How well does your school use G Suite?

Disabling laptop touch screens Tip item

All of the new HP laptops available via the DoE Online Catalogue now come standard with touch screens. Windows 10 offers a platform that is well suited to both touch and non-touch devices. Some schools have asked if there is a way to turn off the touch feature on their new laptops as they prefer their students to use the mouse or touchpad only. Microsoft has published a quick guide that the school's ICT Coordinator can follow to turn off touch on selected laptops. Note that rebuilding the laptop via F12 or UDM will turn the touch feature back on.

Disabling the touch feature on HP laptops

Don't miss Brekkie this week! Professional Learning item

We've got TWO special episodes of Brekkie with a Tekkie this week! On Wednesday, we'll be streaming live from Google headquarters in Sydney where we will be chatting with their Education team about all things Google in NSW public schools. Then the very next morning, we'll be coming live from EduTECH at Darling Harbour where we'll be setting up the NSW Education Learning Space and getting ready for a great two days of exhibitions showcasing the exciting tech happenings in our schools. Get into school early and invite us into your staffroom!

More news.T4L in Week 9

Information Technology Directorate publishes news.T4L three times each term. Remember to share each issue with your staff!

NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTORATE