Education Technology Solutions Digital Edition #76 by Interactive Media Solutions

FOR PRINCIPALS | EDUCATORS | NETWORK ADMINISTRATORS

Issue 76

Which Technologies Will Shape Education In 2017?

FEB/MAR 2017 $9.95 (inc.GST) ISSN 1835 209X

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CONTENTS

026

Cover Story

Technology That Will Shape Education In 2017 With curriculum planning complete for the start of the academic year, technology and the role it is expected to play is high on the agenda for educators. Like all industries, the education sector is experiencing rapid change, driven by the impact of new technologies and what is often referred to as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;digital disruptionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. But while change is exciting, it seems there are still significant challenges to be addressed, if recent report cards are anything to go by. So how can schools address those challenges and what technologies will play a role in shaping the future of education in 2017?

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Feature

Leadership Perspectives On STEM In Australian Primary Schools Why is it important that schools get serious about the STEM disciplines in learning right from kindergarten? Dr Jane Hunter presents insights from her most recent research into the importance of STEM in education and looks at why school leaders need to get serious about STEM subjects, including professional development for teaching staff.

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Feature

From Test To Competence: Achieve What Matters Most Tom March presents the final instalment in his threepart series about using innovation to drive education outcomes.

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 03

CONTENTS 014

Interactive Learning

Mal Lee and Roger Broadie look at the importance of a highly effective and efficient digital marketing strategy for schools.

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76 036

Plugged In

Matt Richards discusses how he helped the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa create a high-tech Learning Lab.

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Office Space

Paul Connelly looks at ways you can more effectively use Google Drive in your primary school.

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Next Step

In the second and final instalment of her two-part series, Dr Shelley Kinash looks at what she feels are some of the best parts of Australian education.

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052

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Talk Pedagogy

Kathleen Mills examines the benefits of open online education resources.

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Professional Development

Are schools getting the best out of their investment in iPads?

052 Peer -To-Peer: The Fast Download To School Improvement While peer-to-peer networks are often much maligned for their breeches of copyright in sharing media, another type of peer-topeer network is making a big impact in schools around the world. How can peer coaching help improve your school?

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Teaching Tools

We present the third in a five-part series by Jon Bergmann on flipped learning and how you can more effectively flip your classroom.

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006

Letter from the Editor

008

Cyber Chat

010

Calendar of Events

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Tech Stuff

066

Product Showcases

Get Connected

James Jenkins of Canterbury College in Brisbane looks at the growing importance of student personal learning networks.

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072 Noticeboards

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 05

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EDITOR’S LETTER EDITOR’S LETTER www.educationtechnologysolutions.com.au EDITORIAL Editor John Bigelow Email: john@interactivemediasolutions.com.au Subeditors Helen Sist, Ged McMahon CONTRIBUTORS Craig Allen, Mei Lin Low, Jane Hunter, Tom March, Toby Trewin, Mal Lee, Matt Richards, Paul Connelly, Kathleen Mills, Shelley Kinash, Jon Bergmann, James Jenkins, Grant Jones, Roger Broadle ADVERTISING Phone: 1300 300 552 Email: keith@interactivemediasolutions.com.au Keith Rozairo DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Phone: 1300 300 552 Email: graphics@interactivemediasolutions.com.au Graphic Designer Jamieson Gross MARKETING AND SUBSCRIPTIONS Phone: 1300 300 552 Email: admin@interactivemediasolutions.com.au $57 AUD per annum inside Australia ACCOUNTS Phone: 1300 300 552 Email: accounts@interactivemediasolutions.com.au PUBLISHER

ABN 56 606 919463 Level 1, 34 Joseph St, Blackburn, Victoria 3130 Phone: 1300 300 552 Fax: 03 8609 1973 Email: enquiries@interactivemediasolutions.com.au Website: www.educationtechnologysolutions.com.au Disclaimer: The publisher takes due care in the preparation of this magazine and takes all reasonable precautions and makes all reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy of material contained in this publication, but is not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission. The publisher does not assume any responsibility or liability for any loss or damage which may result from any inaccuracy or omission in this publication, or from the use of information contained herein. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied with respect to any of the material contained herein. The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in ANY form in whole OR in part without WRITTEN permission from the publisher. Reproduction includes copying, photocopying, translation or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form.

Written Correspondence To: Level 1, 34 Joseph St, Blackburn, Victoria 3130 Phone: 1300 300 552 Fax: 03 8609 1973 Email: enquiries@interactivemediasolutions.com.au

Supported by

06 EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

A friend of mine who recently finished his seven-year medical degree laughingly told me that when he started his degree in 2009, his lecturers proudly informed him, “By the time you have completed your degree, 50 percent of what we teach you in first year medicine will probably no longer be valid. The only problem is, we do not know which 50 percent it will be.” I thought this story was an eloquent reminder of just how quickly advances in technology are changing what we thought we once knew. Things that we take for facts today can be found to be completely wrong a matter of months later. From smart apps and intelligent devices, to robotics, coding and an even greater focus on STEAM, to augmented and/or virtual reality, advanced machine learning, artificial intelligence and so on, 2017 will be a massive year for technological change in education and, no doubt, we will learn a huge amount of new information along the way about how students interact with these new and emerging technologies, how they ingest, assimilate and comprehend the information which arises from the use of these technologies and how these tools can best be applied in an education environment – all of which raises one simple question. What will you do differently this year? Are you going to use the same lessons you used last year, teaching the same material using the same techniques? For how many years have you been teaching that material using those techniques? Are you one of the educators that constantly looks for

new and innovative ways to inspire and educate, or are you happy to keep doing what you have been doing because it is comfortable and easy? If you fall into the latter category, then you must surely ask yourself if you are doing the right thing by your students. It is easy to believe that your hands are tied because your school’s leadership team are not willing to implement or pay for new technologies or material but, in reality, there is a huge amount that can be done to update lesson plans and change the way that you teach for little or no expense. You simply have to be willing to explore, put in time and make an effort to find the things that will work for you. As Ghandi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Or in this case, be the change you wish to see in your school. In the end, it is not just about ensuring that your students get the best education, it is also about keeping yourself interested, engaged, excited and invigorated about your role as an educator. If you cannot be inspired, then how can you inspire your students? Have a great 2017 and change someone’s life! Regards,

JOHN BIGELOW Editor-in-Chief

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Simply push the scan button on the ScanSnap SV600 to start scanning. You can scan documents which are impossible to scan using an ADF scanner. Large documents, thick books, and your precious memories. You don’t need to cut out pages anymore and you can even scan multiple document in one go. These are all made possible by the new Versatile Imaging Technology. Scan it with Fujitsu. If you would like more information please contact Proscan 1300 132 001

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shaping tomorrow with you EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 07

REGULAR

C Y

CYBER CHAT

Back To School: How To Protect Institutional Data When A Laptop Is Stolen | By Craig Allen | While the bulk of data breaches making recent news are the result of phishing or hacks, a large percentage of breaches stem from stolen devices, such as a crash-and-grab of a laptop left on a car seat, for example. It goes without saying that protecting data when a laptop is stolen is paramount. According to a 2015 Deloitte study, the average cost of a data breach per Australian organisation is more than $2.5 million per year, and rising. But with new legislation on the table, Australian educational institutions will need to take cybersecurity more seriously. Earlier this year, The University of Sydney lost a notebook computer containing sensitive information about disabled students at the academic institution, which “may have been unlawfully accessed”. Though the laptop had password protection, it did not guarantee the security of the information stored on the device. If passed, the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016 will present a challenge for any educational institution saying ‘We are not sure if we have been breached’. The onus will be on the institution to ensure they are aware of data breaches, as disclosure must be made if an organisation believes a breach may have occurred. Educational institutions can no longer be lawfully blind to cybersecurity risks. If The University of Sydney was

to lose another laptop under the aforementioned circumstances, they would be required, by law, to disclose this information to affected individuals and the relevant regulator – or risk fines. Fortunately, there are steps schools and universities can take to protect corporate data. Wipe Institutional Data Clean It pays to be prepared. Should a laptop be stolen, having in place a fast, secure and complete remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution will allow a school to take control of the laptop even though it is off its network. Schools and universities with an RMM system in place can log into devices remotely or use an automated script to delete any sensitive information, quickly limiting exposure. Some solutions even offer remote management capability with mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. They also let a school segregate institutional information from personal information on any bring your own devices to allow quick access without disturbing personal data. Remote monitoring is essential to minimising the impact of a data breach. However, schools should stay away from consumer-oriented remote monitoring tools that do not give them the security or integrated systems management features they need to operate in a professional IT environment.

008 EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Enhance Systems Security There are two ways to protect institutional systems from illicit entry. First, user passwords can be quickly changed through a password management tool. Second, multi-factor authentication will make sure that anyone trying to log into the school’s systems needs more than just a password. This way, the systems are protected even before the school is alerted of the theft. System Automation to Fight Crime Procedures can be created that automatically capture desktop screenshots and even pinpoint the geographic location of a laptop using Google location application program interfaces. These tools provide valuable information that can help authorities locate the stolen laptop, and even the culprit. No matter the scenario, schools and universities must take measures to safeguard themselves against the risks associated with a lost or stolen laptop or mobile device. And with the data breach notification bill now before the House of Representatives, it is imperative that educational institutions step up their cybersecurity capabilities. Craig Allen is Technical Director APJ at Kaseya, a leading provider of complete IT management solutions for educational institutions.

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 09

REGULAR

EVENTS CALENDAR

National FutureSchools Expo & Conference 23–24 March 2017 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre The

National

FutureSchools

Expo

is an annual two-day event which runs in March and will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in 2017. It is the sister event of EduTECH (Australasia and Asia Pacific’s largest education event). It consists of one central exhibition and five parallel conferences designed to tackle five specific areas of the future school: • Future Leadership • Young Learning • Special Needs • Teaching about and using emerging technologies • STEM, coding, robotics and the new digital curriculum. We work with industry to subsidise registration costs to make this an affordable and accessible investment in your learning. • Access the very best speakers from Australia and around the world. • Share ideas, successes and challenges. • Join 1,500+ attendees to discuss, debate and take away implementable outcomes. • Tailor-make your own experience and choose from five conferences, with multiple streams, plus focused breakout sessions, masterclasses and interactive exhibition seminars and displays (not to mention hours of networking functions). • Save time by meeting with suppliers in one place, at one time. • Earn professional development points – when you register, simply tick the box

indicating that you wish to apply for CPD/PD points and we will post you a Certificate of Attendance, which you can present to your representative body. Visit http://futureschools.com.au/ About.stm#sthash.xhYgd6ZR.dpuf for more information.

EduTECH 2017 8–9 June 2017 Sydney Convention Centre EduTECH is Australasia’s largest annual education technology conference and exhibition. In 2017, EduTECH will host eight conferences, eight masterclasses, 8,000+ attendees, an official event dinner for 800 guests, 250+ exhibitors and free seminars for exhibition visitors. EduTECH is the only event that brings together the entire education and training sector (primary, secondary, tertiary and workplace learning) plus libraries, government, suppliers and world-renowned speakers all under one roof. As a delegate, you can choose from one of eight conferences designed for your role, ensuring you get the most out of your professional development investment. Furthermore, EduTECH works with industry to subsidise registration costs to make the conference an affordable and accessible investment in your learning. • Access the very best speakers from Australia and around the world.  • Share ideas, successes and challenges. • Discuss, debate and take away implementable outcomes.

010 EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

• This is a second-to-none networking opportunity. • Tailor-make your own experience and choose from eight large congresses, with multiple streams, plus focused breakout sessions, masterclasses and interactive exhibition seminars and displays (not to mention hours of networking functions). • See what is on offer and save time by meeting with suppliers in one place, at one time. ▪ For more information, please visit www.edutech.net.au

FlipCon NZ 2017 with Jon Bergmann 23–24 June 2017 Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, Wellington NZ FlipCon NZ 2017 is an international conference embracing Flipped Learning. Emerging and established flipped educators will want to attend this concentrated, high touch, handson conference. If you have no prior experience in flipping a class or school the beginner track could be for you. However you will still get a great deal out of any other concurrent session so don’t be afraid to choose from there too. If you have been flipping your class you can choose from a range of tracks including Flip a Lesson, Making Flipped Resources, Assessment, What happens at home, Pedagogy and Best Practices, Scaling, Research or one of the Spotlight sessions.

Freedom to focus on teaching Our solutions and services enable you to concentrate on what you do best. With over 20 years’ Education industry experience, we have the expertise to help you: • Speed the flow of information and manage your workflows. • Inspire creativity with innovative 3D printing technology. • Manage your student data securely with cost-effective print management solutions.

Find out more today. Call 1800 789 389 to talk to our Education experts, or visit konicaminolta.com.au/education EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 011

REGULAR

EVENTS CALENDAR

If you have reached or would like to reach Mastery level you can select the Masterclass option, an extended conference experience.

give students a competitive advantage. The conference will appeal to school leaders, leadership teams and classroom teachers who lead.

FlipCon Australia 2017 with Jon Bergmann

Further information about FlipCon NZ can be found at www.ereg.me/ FlipConNZ

Program Overview Day 1: Leading from the top The focus of this day is on what school leaders do to drive digital technology and learning in their schools.

FlipCon Australia 2017 is a national conference embracing Flipped Learning. Emerging and established flipped educators will want to attend this concentrated, high touch, handson conference. If you have no prior experience in flipping a class or school the beginner track could be for you. However you will still get a great deal out of any other concurrent session so don’t be afraid to choose from there too. If you have been flipping your class for a while now you can choose from a wide range of tracks and Spotlight sessions, many choices to suit every level. If you have reached or would like to reach Mastery level you can select the Masterclass option, an extended conference experience.

ISTE 2017 25–28 June 2017 San Antonio, USA Differentiate your learning Unbelievable things happen at the ISTE Conference & Expo. Groundbreaking ideas are shared, new learning technologies are unveiled and collaborations form that will impact classrooms everywhere. Claim your seat at the table among education’s most innovative change agents. You’ll have more than 1,000 opportunities to create the learning path that works best for you and covers what’s important to you. Want to learn by doing? Check out a BYOD. Want to ask questions of the presenters? Attend an interactive lecture. Need to get really hands on? Join us in a playground!

Day 2: The beautiful synergy (combining somewhere in the middle) The focus of this day is on the synergy that is created when school leaders, leadership teams and classroom teachers combine to drive the agenda for digital teaching and learning. Day 3: Leading from the grassroots The focus of this day is on how classroom teachers use digital technology to improve educational outcomes for their students and how they influence their school’s vision and direction for teaching and learning with digital technology. Visit www.ereg.me/digital17 for more information.

The Education Show For more information visit https://conference.iste.org/2017/

1–2 September 2017 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

Leading A Digital School Conference 2017

The Education Show is a key event of The National Education Summit which draws principals, school leaders, business managers and educators from K-12.

17–19 August 2017 QT Hotel, Gold Coast The Leading a Digital School Conference 2017 is about driving and growing the inspirational and sound educational use of digital technology in your school to

For more information on the National Education Summit please visit nationaleducationsummit.com.au

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20–21 October 2017 Inaburra School, Sydney

Sessions will focus on: • a beginner stream • making flipped resources • pedagogy and best practice • subject specific • mastery • assessment • scaling up • research • flip a lesson • what happens at home. Further information about FlipCon Australia 2017 can be found at www.ereg.me/FlipConAUS17

Shaping the future of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schools

EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 013

interactivelearning

Marketing the

Digital School

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| By Mal Lee and Roger Broadie | The digital evolution of a school and the shift from the traditional, insular, paperbased operational mode to one that is digital and socially-networked obliges the school to rethink its traditional marketing strategy and adopt one apposite for an increasingly integrated, higher order, socially networked, 24/7/365 mode of schooling. The continuous flow of information and images, to parents and the community, that digitally evolved schools create, present a day-by-day picture of the school’s educational philosophy and approach. If this image is in conflict with the high-sounding statements promoted in the school’s brochure and website home page, a lack of belief will be generated. The change that has to occur is from advertising to showcasing. It is possible in advertising to put a gloss on the reality of what happens in the school. Showcasing has to be based on the reality, enabling parents to rapidly see through any advertising gloss. In tracking the evolution of the pathfinder schools globally, observing the changes that have taken place and also noting the digital transformation of marketing in business, the authors have identified a suite of developments that point strongly to the type of marketing that digital schools are likely to employ, and the implications which flow. Not surprisingly, virtually all of the developments, all the changes are consonant with and critical to the wider digital evolution and growth of the schools. What is also becoming increasingly apparent is that the marketing of a digital school, of a socially networked school community ‘owned’ by it, is likely to be significantly different to the marketing of products. While conscious marketing of products is also evolving, shifting from the venerated silo-like single channels model to an omni-channels mode (https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnichannel), the trend line with schools is pointing

very strongly to empowered total school communities – largely unwittingly – being assisted by the school leadership to use social networks and word of mouth to market the school. The implication of this is that all involved in the social networked communications – including pupils and parents, as well as teachers – contribute to the overall image of the school that is presented. If these diverge, it will be rapidly noticed. If they are all ‘on-message’, the impact will be hugely powerful. Within the traditional paper-based school, with its strong division of labour, silolike organisational structure and insularity, school marketing – if done at all – was: • invariably handled by a designated person or unit – responsible for all of the school promotion, with the school seeking to unilaterally control every aspect • broadcast in nature – distributed at perceived key points in the school year • purpose specific • similar year-on-year • largely impersonal • strongly paper-based • carefully conceived, highly polished with the desired Pepsodent smiles and spin, all designed to present the desired image. Many of the larger schools have had a significant marketing budget for years, often employing specialist marketing and/or public relations professionals. In brief, the schools used an advertising model very similar to commercial advertising. The product benefits are identified and put into words and images as a value-proposition that is promoted. Showcasing on the other hand is based not on expected and hoped-for benefits, but on the real benefits that are realised from the use of the product – in the school’s case, the real learning benefits that result from the culture, curriculum and teaching ‘product’ that the school provides.

In shifting to a digital operational mode, the authors have noted the following trends in marketing emerging in the pathfinders, with the schools: • adopting an evermore integrated, multifaceted, whole-of-school community approach • integrating marketing into their daily operations • having the total staff understand the part they play in their teaching and support in marketing the school and its culture • willing to reveal their natural workings, opening much of their daily teaching to public viewing, allowing current and prospective clients to scrutinise the school’s thinking and work, anytime they wish • empowering and genuinely collaborating with their students, parents and wider community distributing the marketing of the school • ensuring the total school community understands the school’s shaping educational vision and the school’s macro workings, and able to speak with authority on those operations • moving almost entirely to digital communication and administration • employing an omni-channel approach • capitalising upon the everyday tools of the socially-networked society and personalising the marketing • reducing their marketing expenditure as they distribute the marketing and make extensive use of inexpensive, highly efficient digital facilities • being highly agile, willing to take risks and try new approaches when the opportunity arises • using most programs/operations simultaneously for multiple purposes, not least of which is marketing • orchestrating the school community’s social networking. Collectively, these developments combine to communicate a consistent narrative about the schools, where the macro image of each school is in harmony

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interactivelearning

occasions each year, a networked school with its micro everyday workings. The hype community supportive of the school is has been replaced by a very real insight ‘selling’ the school with likely hundreds, into the school, its thinking and values. possibly thousands of social media Where in the traditional school the communiques every day. A school of marketing person/unit would carefully 300 students could, for example, see its polish all communiques before parent community re-transmitting schoolrelease, within the digital with an open generated digital material, with positive website and comprehensive digital comment, daily to 1,000 or more folk via communications suite, the marketing is various social media. done by all the school, virtually every day. The key word here is ‘supportive’. If, Yes, care is taken with every publication like the pathfinders, the schools have emanating from the school, but few of the over time successfully collaborated with, communiques receive the special public relations spin. Prospective clients can inspect the reality, The change that has to occur is from mess and all. Where the advertising to showcasing. It is possible traditional school works behind in advertising to put a gloss on the closed doors, revealing only carefully selected snippets of reality of what happens in the school. information, the latter schools Showcasing has to be based on the open most of their workings to reality, enabling parents to rapidly see public scrutiny. Of note were through any advertising gloss. the school principals who commented on the number empowered and got their community to of ‘out of area’ enrolments that flowed ‘own’ the school, the support proffered by from prospective parents being able to word of mouth and social networks can readily scrutinise the school via its working be immense. If, however, that ownership website. has not been secured and the school’s The trend, consonant with the wider networked community is not impressed by digital evolution and transformation of the school, even minor blemishes can see the schools, is to shift from silo-like to social networking cause major damage. distributed marketing where, rather than The reality is, as every school and the one person, the school brings into business can attest, if the product being play its total community. A similar shift marketed is substandard, no amount is evidenced in business, with growing of money and marketing expertise will calls for organisations to abandon the overcome that shortcoming and the traditional silo-like marketing cell, with inevitable poor word-of-mouth marketing. its strong channels focus and adopt an In an increasingly socially networked omni-channels, whole-of-organisation society where clients not only talk at model (Gupta, 2016). Ted Rubin, the dinner parties and car parks but also marketing evangelist, has suggested, “To through social media, the lack of support deliver a truly omni-channel, integrated for the school or outright criticism can be experience, you have to connect the highly deleterious. dots internally as well – which means It is thus vital from the outset that school connecting your employees so they can leaders factor into the digital evolution collaboratively deliver that seamless of the school the understanding that experience.” the school will rely increasingly on its The important difference between total community to market the school the marketing of digital businesses and and attract clientele. The school needs schools is that, in addition to involving all to ready its community to play that the employees, the schools are also able role. The experience of the pathfinders to ‘activate’ the immense power of their strongly suggests that if the school grows socially-networked community. Where its ecosystem successfully, the marketing traditional school marketing focused on power will grow concomitantly, and ‘selling’ the school on limited, specific 016 EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

largely naturally without significant extra effort from the school. The obvious corollary is that if schools do not ready themselves, create the desired digital communications suite and ecosystem, and secure school community ownership, it will be folly to try to employ the distributed model. It is a warning education systems and governments should heed. In going digital, schools are availed a plethora of immensely powerful and inexpensive marketing opportunities, but all are contingent on schools operating within a digital and socially-networked operational paradigm, continually providing their clients the desired totality and having a tightly integrated digitallybased school ecosystem that does deliver each child an apposite holistic education and which meets the client’s rising expectations. It is appreciated it takes schools literally years to reach that position, and time also for the school marketers to grasp the digital transformation underway in marketing and to reshape their thinking and marketing model accordingly. All the while this is happening, the pathfinder schools are continuing to evolve at pace, strengthening their social network, becoming increasingly attractive and making it that much more challenging for later adopter schools to compete. The sooner schools can successfully adopt a distributed mode of school marketing, the sooner they will put themselves back in the game. ETS Mal Lee is a former director of schools, secondary college principal, technology company director, and now, author and educational consultant. He has written extensively on the impact of technology and the evolution of schooling. Roger Broadie has wide experience helping schools get the maximum impact on learning from technology. He is the Naace Lead for the 3rd Millennium Learning Award. In his 30-plus years of working at the forefront of technology in education he has worked with a huge range of leading schools, education organisations and policymakers in the United Kingdom and Europe.

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Leadership Perspectives On STEM In Australian Primary Schools

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| By Dr Jane Hunter | It is 2017 at last. Now, just for a few moments, think back to the end of 2016 when education – and the results of Australian school students in national and international tests – was once again making news headlines on a daily basis. On the 9th of December 2016, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, said in an article in The Conversation, “Although international testing cannot capture everything of importance in Australian education I take the latest findings of PISA, TIMSS and NAPLAN seriously.” He posited three new Rs for education: 1. Restoring meaningful maths prerequisites for all university courses, citing that it would reverse the exodus from advanced maths courses and it would give principals a reason to make the quality of their maths programs a priority all the way from kindergarten to Year 12. 2. Respect teaching – in that it is the human upfront in classrooms that is critical and high-achieving students must become highly qualified teachers with well-targeted professional development. 3. Recognise the influence of school leaders – stating that it is principals who set the tone in their schools and, with the right strategies and focus, they can drive a culture of constant improvement. Each of these factors is acknowledged by the Commonwealth Science Council, whose members provide strategic advice to Government on science and technology issues, and who work to build stronger collaboration between scientists, researchers and industry. The purpose here is not to debate the merits or otherwise of national and international testing in schools, but instead take up the Chief Scientist’s third point and zoom in on influence and tone in terms of recent Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) research I conducted in NSW primary schools. Being serious about the STEM disciplines in learning right from kindergarten is essential. I was fortunate to interview four primary school principals on their views of the importance of STEM. Each interview went for more than an hour and was a small part of a wider study that was ethically approved by the University of Technology Sydney and the NSW Department of Education; details of the research and findings are reported elsewhere. Each principal and school name in the study have pseudonyms – what the principals discussed adds to our understanding of the STEM disciplines in primary school education and is instructive for education leaders and teachers who are keen to think more closely about STEM in schools and classrooms as 2017 begins. Each school in the study used a pedagogical framework known as High Possibility Classrooms (HPC) that has grown from research conducted in both exemplary and mainstream teachers’ classrooms (various studies from 2013– 2015) to support building teacher capacity and confidence, unit planning and student learning in STEM. Through interviewing the principals*, I wanted to understand seven key concerns, here are responses to three of them: • Why is STEM important to them as an education leader? • What problem were they aiming to solve with STEM? • How will they know the school’s focus on STEM has been effective? *Note that what is distributed in this article is a small slice of data discussed.

Quotes from the principals are italicised. Main Finding It was clear from the data analysis that how to effectively integrate and embed STEM subjects into the curriculum and primary school teachers’ apparent lack of deep knowledge in the STEM disciplines remain considerable challenges in the minds of these principals. Importance of STEM as an Education Leader Most responses to this question revolved around changing a perceived stigma attached to the STEM disciplines, and that the four disciplines are as important as literacy and numeracy. Until now, STEM subjects had not been well taught in primary schools. It was stated that the attention to literacy and numeracy in recent school curriculum had taken the focus away from other key learning areas (KLAs). The move by some primary schools to bring in subject specialists in STEM raised a dilemma. This comment makes the point: Subject specialists in STEM or science/mathematics do not assist building capacity and confidence of primary school teachers more generally… more professional learning will. Two principals were critical of current teacher education in universities and they raised questions of intellectual capacity and whether new teachers had the ability to work at the levels required for rigorous mathematics and science teaching: entrance scores need to be higher into teaching. Others noted that STEM requires a lot of preparation, that it cannot be done on the run and knowing how to differentiate well, knowing what comes next and connecting it to the real world is crucial. Unanimous agreement was made in

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feature terms of deep subject matter knowledge – this included knowing how to work scientifically and mathematically: understanding all of the underpinning concepts is a big ask of some teachers who find syllabus documents difficult to deconstruct. Another repeated theme throughout all interviews was the question of STEM integration and how to program it well into units of work – what to assess and what to leave out were key concerns. Knowledge of how to integrate two KLAs was one thing, but adding two or more subjects was a challenge; often this meant that as a principal: You see the teacher’s default position and that is a focus on English. Gaining consistency across the school was problematic and this arises from confusion in the minds of teachers about what to focus on. Significant agreement was apparent in terms of STEM being about concerns for the future, assisting students to transition to high school and switching on curiosity in primary school-aged students in these subjects in time for secondary school and their lives beyond. Problems Solved by STEM Education This question was designed to understand the purpose of STEM. Grouping teachers together to work to their strengths would help the emphasis on STEM teaching and learning; so too would decisions around project-based learning (PBL) as an effective STEM pedagogy. It was clear that STEM is about addressing the challenge of providing deep, well-integrated learning for students in primary schools and paying more attention to the hard subjects – the term hard and hard fun was used often in association with STEM. There are many competing agendas in primary schools and knowing what to focus on for most primary school teachers, even after professional learning, is difficult. Principals see STEM as a chance to target higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in classrooms and, because of many teachers’ lack of confidence in STEM, it manifests in the way they report students’ progress in these subjects. Teachers understand how to report English but

less so the other KLAs; creativity was something many teachers also found elusive and one principal gave this example: If a child has difficulty in English then this was generalised to all of the student’s subjects, whereas this may not actually be the case. English has become the default reporting position because teachers know how to unpack that a little more easily.

Being serious about the STEM disciplines in learning right from kindergarten is essential. Perceptions that the curriculum is crowded were common and this reality has not been eased by effective STEM integration; the inadequacy of current systems for ongoing STEM teacher professional learning need to address this, as do resources, especially increasing available funds to schools to purchase materials and technology. Knowing the School’s Focus on STEM is Effective Significant themes that arose from responses to this question reveal the desire for the work of students in STEM to reflect recent teacher professional learning and that teachers who perhaps were not previously engaged in progressing their knowledge in the STEM disciplines have continued to do so. The question of sustaining attention to STEM in classrooms is critical. Principals hope to see better reporting of what it means for students to be working scientifically and mathematically in their school and that the difference between English and literacy in the reporting requirements will be more defined when there is a focus on STEM. It is often difficult to get a deep sense of what is going on in classrooms, said one principal. There were different expectations for classroom management when students were working in new ways that are

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wrapped up in the continuation of good education outcomes for every student. All principals agreed it was about palpable increases in staff and students’ motivation and excitement for the STEM subjects and building a positive school culture where teachers readily connected to the outside world and were better positioned to ask for assistance when they were not clear about how to integrate and program curriculum. Closing Comments Findings from this new research and data presented here reflect many of the Chief Scientist’s concerns about tone, influence and strategy. What is clear from this group of primary school principals in NSW is their decision to make teaching and learning in STEM a priority – they have a clear strategy and they will try to find the resources within school budgets to do it well. Many more funds are needed in primary schools, as STEM supplies are not cheap and resourcing time for primary school teachers to continue and deepen their subject matter knowledge and pedagogical focus from excellent and ongoing professional development will pay dividends. ETS A former classroom primary and secondary teacher, Dr Jane Hunter is conducting a series of postdoctoral research projects in STEM in NSW and Victorian schools. Jane works in the School of Education at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia; she leads teachers, school principals and communities to better understand and support education change. Her book Technology Integration and High Possibility Classrooms: Building from TPACK is advancing new ways of enacting pedagogy in school classrooms. To find out more about this recent STEM research, contact Jane via email jane.hunter@uts.edu.au, via Twitter @janehunter01 or at the annual conference of the Science Teachers’ Association of NSW at Macquarie University on 18 February where she will be a keynote speaker.

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Creating A High-Tech Learning Lab In A Museum | By Matt Richards | Nine months ago, I was employed by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa to create a Learning Lab. Te Papa wanted to remake its classroom space into an innovative high-tech learning environment and provide Students from Newlands Intermediate experiential cross-discipline School creating in Virtual Reality and education programs for schools hosting a live virtual excursion for and the public. I had experience students at Wooranna Park Primary creating makerspaces and School in Melbourne, Australia. innovative learning spaces (Image: Matt Richards 2016) previously in schools and companies, but this was my first time working for a museum. Te Papa’s awesome staff, innovative vision and mission to “change hearts, mind and lives” make it a unique and inspiring place to work. It has been an amazing and slightly magical journey creating Hinatore | Learning Lab. We have just finished construction. Last week, we had our first group of learners (beta testers) from Newlands Intermediate School come in for a demo session. Students from Wooranna Park Primary School in Melbourne also beamed in to collaborate via Google Hangout (telepresence). The session was a huge success. Everyone had a blast and it was heart-warming to see the space come alive with excited learners. Hinatore | Learning Lab – flexible learning space. (Image: Matt Richards 2016)

We designed Hinatore for learners. We wanted to create a learning commons where everyone who enters the space has a sense of ownership and fun. All the furniture and technology is multipurpose and flexible. ‘Swiss Army’ tables swing out from wall units, movable wall panels transform to create media studios and

cushioned comfy nooks are built into the cupboards. Everything in Hinatore is made to be moved and used by its occupants. The space transforms to support the needs of learners. The Swiss Army tables were a hit with the kids in Melbourne. They kept asking Ronelle (the Newlands Intermediate student giving them a virtual tour) to demonstrate their functionality.

Student from Newlands Intermediate School giving a virtual tour of Te Papa to students at Wooranna Park Primary in Melbourne, Australia. (Image: Matt Richards 2016)

We have developed the first release of learning programs for 2017. Hinatore learning sessions are cross-disciplinary, support learners’ development across the 21st century core competencies (creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking) and deepen engagement with Te Papa’s collections and exhibitions. In our Pacific Explorers program, learners experience our Tangata o le Moana exhibition, design a Cook Islands-style vaka digitally in 3D and print their personal creations using 3D printers. They learn pacific navigation techniques with star charts in virtual reality (VR) and create their own inter-island navigational stick charts. We are also running workshops for the general public. After school on Tuesdays, kids can learn to code and develop games at Play Inc. sessions. Families can play and create together in the Build a BugBot session and adults can tap into their creativity in Creative Jam workshops. Public workshops will be available to book in January 2017. EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 023

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respond to objects placed on them (using fiducial markers) and provide learners with a choice of learning paths linked to the specific objects. Learners can scan collection objects with our 3D scanners and print their own copy, or create their own bespoke 3D designs and print them. We chose technologies for the Learning Lab that encourage making. Kids attending our after-school Play Inc. program will have the opportunity to create their own digital games using coding and creative electronics. Kids testing their custom-made Bug Bots. (Image: Kate

excursions for schools who cannot make it to Te Papa. Using mobile technologies, Te Papa’s educators give school groups a personalised tour of exhibitions.

Newlands Intermediate student learning about pacific vaka with Melbourne students via Google Hangout. (Image: Matt Richards 2016)

Whitley 2016) Students from

The Learning Lab is kitted out with some seriously cool technology. We wanted to explore and develop new ways of learning with transformative tech. Hinatore contains 3D printers, 3D scanners, touch tables, a range of VR systems (including a custommade VR studio) and telepresence systems that enable real-time collaboration with people around the globe. We specifically chose technologies that empower creativity and enable collaborative learning in ways not previously possible. Our learning programs employ VR applications that enable real-time collaboration between geographically distant participants. In Hyper Room, people can communicate, create and brainstorm in a shared virtual space. Tilt Brush is a VR painting and sculpting application that allows the user to create room-size artistic creations. Cardboard camera is a smartphone app that enables easy creation of VR videos which can be viewed in a cardboard VR viewer and shared instantly with friends and networks.

Newlands Intermediate student creates art in virtual reality. (Image: Mike O’Neill 2016)

Te Papa has amazing objects and taonga in its collections and exhibitions to learn from. At Hinatore, we have a special touchable collection that people can handle. We want to extend and enhance object-based learning with digital technologies. Our touch tables can

Newlands Intermediate in New Zealand and Wooranna Newlands Intermediate students creating games with coding, craft and electronics. (Image: Mike O’Neill 2016)

Park Primary in Australia learning together via Google Hangouts in Hinatore | Learning Lab. (Image: Mike O’Neill 2016)

Newlands Intermediate students collaboratively exploring geography with touch tables. (Image: Mike O’Neill 2016)

Part of our mission at Hinatore is expanding our learning community locally and internationally. We want to support learners collaborating on shared topics and comparing cultural perspectives. The Google Hangout during the demo session with Wooranna Park Primary in Melbourne and Newlands Intermediate in the Learning Lab worked well. After talking as a whole group, Ronelle (Newlands student) took the Melbourne kids on a tour of our exhibitions using a smartphone and gimbal. My favourite part of this virtual tour was seeing the learning happening at both ends of the connection. When the kids in Melbourne asked where the vaka they were viewing was from, Ronelle read the label and relayed the information in her own words. We have also developed virtual

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We have developed the learning programs at Hinatore to be fun, learner centric and informed by the latest research. We are transforming the old ‘chalk and talk’ way of learning into something shared and co-creative. Building on the concept of Ako, everyone brings knowledge to share and new knowledge can arise from shared experiences. Hinatore is Maori for phosphorescence or luminescence. It symbolises the shimmering lights of inspiration that mark the beginning of a learning journey. A huge thanks to my team and everyone who helped make Hinatore a reality! Hinatore | Learning Lab at Te Papa opens in February 2017. I hope you can join us for a learning adventure! ETS Matt Richards is an educational leader, learning innovator and technologist. He is the Senior Advisor Learning Innovation at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, creating innovative learning spaces and programs. Matt pioneered the maker education movement in Australian schools and founded an international games-based learning project. He employs emerging technologies to empower learners and build global learning communities. Matt is a Google Certified Innovator and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert.

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coverstory

Technology That Will Shape Education In 2017 026 EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

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| By Mei Lin Low | With curriculum planning complete for the start of the academic year, technology and the role it is expected to play is high on the agenda for educators. Like all industries, the education sector is experiencing rapid change, driven by the impact of new technologies and what is often referred to as ‘digital disruption’. But while change is exciting, it seems there are still significant challenges to be addressed if recent ‘report cards’ are anything to go by. The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 (Hunjan & Blumer, ABC News, 6 Dec 2016) findings highlighted gaps within the Australian education system. Dr Sue Thomson from the Australian Council of Education Research collected the Australian data and said local academic performance was in “absolute decline” stating that students’ ability to apply their mathematical and scientific knowledge to real-life situations is falling not only relative to other countries but also in an absolute sense. The PISA results also suggest that equitable funding of schools, including redistribution to schools serving disadvantaged communities, remains a significant policy issue in Australia (Riddle & Lindgard, ABC News, 7 Dec 2016). Polycom also recently undertook its own Education 2025 study within Australia and New Zealand to gain insights into technology needs within the education sector. Perhaps, not surprisingly, the findings indicated that educators still see a need for more professional development when it comes to using new technologies. It also found that funding, the curriculum not keeping pace with future workforce needs and the lack of government support were all seen as inhibitors to creating a more positive education future. A Guide to the Top 2017 Edu-Tech Trends Making an Impact Schools and colleges are under increasing pressure to deliver technology enhanced learning. Here are my thoughts on what technologies we should expect to see more of during the next 12 months:

1. Virtual Reality Delivering deeper engagement than a traditional textbook, virtual reality inside the classroom promotes content-rich learning and social interaction. It provides context in learning because the visual element of virtual reality enhances the relationships between concepts and information much better than reading alone. Tools like Google Cardboard are both a platform and a product to experience and encourage interest in virtual reality.

video. When this happens, expect enormous changes in the way education is delivered for students, particularly those outside of urban areas. Improvements in equity of access will mean more learning opportunities, including the ability for remote-based students to receive the same education as their city-based peers. Having access to ultra-high definition 4K video content inside and outside the classroom is expected to become a popular way for students to engage with content, experts and each other.

2. Augmented Reality Witness the cult-like popularity of Pokémon Go. Augmented reality, which superimposes digital content, including hologram images, onto a user’s view of what they see is still relatively new. Unlike virtual reality, it allows the user to ‘maintain control’ of their environment by seeing the real world around them. Improvements in the performance and cost of solutions like Microsoft HoloLens (think first generation iPod versus latest iPod) will help drive this technology into the mainstream.

5. Gamification Computer games are continuing to reinvent themselves as credible education tools. Popular games like Minecraft are teaching creativity, collaboration and problem solving. Gamification of learning is an educational approach to motivate students, bringing game design and elements into the learning environment. For example, gaming accessories like Osmo convert any iPad into a learning device that enables children to discover and explore a wide range of subjects, from mathematics to coding, art instruction to critical thinking.

3. Learn from Anywhere, Teach from Anywhere Mobile Devices While smart devices like tablets and smartphones are not new in themselves, they continue to gain in popularity as learning tools for students and educators. Offering learn from anywhere accessibility, smart devices are also expected to play a significant role in bridging the education inequalities highlighted by PISA. However, the flip side to widespread availability is increased user familiarity and therefore a higher expectation of ‘what can I do’. To drive user adoption, smart devices and supporting apps will need to adapt to this learn from anywhere, teach from anywhere mindset. 4. Collaboration Technology The nbn™ aims to have all schools (with priority given to country schools) connected to high speed broadband by 2020. Faster broadband speed will also enable access to ultra-high definition

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6. Coding Coding continues to grow in popularity as the curriculum catches up with education innovation. Learning coding skills helps children to develop critical-thinking skills and problem-solving processes that are not only important in computer science, but also in life (Julian, 2015). It teaches them how to look at the bigger picture and to break down big challenges into smaller and more manageable tasks. More emphasis is expected on areas like coding and programming to ensure students understand how to program and interact with technology. 7. Evolving Learning Spaces and Styles Using a mix of cloud, mobile and desktop collaboration apps is already common in technology enabled schools. Tomorrow’s technology needs the flexibility to meet the demands of different learning styles

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and collaboration requirements, ranging from personal and group learning through to idea generation and teacher training. Traditional physical learning spaces will be transformed to accommodate the needs of technology and learning preferences. A video-enabled classroom must accommodate the needs of the children physically present in addition to those joining from remote locations. 8. The Maker Movement This refers to the students who will be the creators and inventors of tomorrow. Already they are using technology as tools to bring their innovative concepts and ideas to life. The availability of maker tools such as 3D printers and Raspberry Pi motherboards is playing a key role in driving this movement. It allows children to take what they have learned at school and test their theories by making prototypes or real-life models of their vision. The maker movement also supports critical thinking during the creation phase – sequence of production actions, workflow and failure! Learning to fail and learning from failing is important to kids. As the above edu-tech trends indicate, the way educational professionals learn, teach and collaborate is set to change significantly. I recently spoke with Polycom education partner, Ben Newsome, Managing Director of Fizzics Education. Ben and his team deliver virtual science learning experiences to schools throughout Australia and New Zealand. Here is a Q&A from that discussion:

Based on the latest PISA results, do you believe technology has a role to play in helping to address some of the issues raised by the findings, including income inequality? Technology certainly has a role to play in helping address some of the inequities in access to education. For example, using video collaboration, regional and remote students can participate in live virtual excursions to science centres, galleries and museums without the expense of transport and accommodation inherent to student travel. This extends beyond students too; teachers can connect with leading global

educators at conferences in real time from their own school, plus share digital resources during collaborative lessons with isolated classes.

According to a new report by the Research Australia Institute and the nbn™ on the ‘future of work’, Australian kids are going to face a radically different work environment from what we see today. What is your point of view on this? Educators make an enormous effort in preparing students to communicate, collaborate and think critically. This will extend into the digital environment as access to collaborative technologies increases. Becoming familiar with how to use video and web conferencing systems in everyday lessons is essential for educators to prepare students for the future workplace. Once familiar with the functionality of these systems, teachers can explore a myriad of learning opportunities; for example, creating challenges that require remote teams to solve problems using multiple devices or incorporating live video streams into project-based learning scenarios that simulate real-world issues.

There is a lot of buzz around the cool new technologies expected to turn heads in the edu-tech industry in the coming 12 months. Are there any emerging technologies that you are expecting to see have a significant impact in 2017? Virtual reality (VR) headsets, augmented reality and immersive spaces will continue to gain popularity amongst students and teachers alike in 2017. The cost of VR headsets, robotics and smart devices will continue to reduce on the back of increased adoption and other technologies such as 3D printing and wearable technology will become more mainstream. The increased emphasis on coding has benefits beyond learning a programming language; through coding, students learn to deconstruct complex problems into simpler components and improve their ability to communicate solutions in team environments. The renewed focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

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will continue to provide opportunities for schools to engage with their communities via makerspaces and technology fairs.

Do you think the traditional deskbased classroom environment will still be relevant in the classroom of the future? The traditional desk-based environment is slowly being replaced by more fluid environments with less fixed structures. Classrooms are beginning to emulate the collaborative workspaces found in modern workspaces. Flipped classrooms and bring your own device (BYOD) programs are driving student-centred learning, with teachers acting more as facilitators of learning rather than disseminators of information. Video-enabled classrooms are an essential part of this environment, whereby teachers can produce learning sequences that give opportunities for students to directly interact with subject matter experts from around the globe. Continued adoption of collaborative technologies in schools and utilising these devices in everyday lessons will put young people in a fantastic position to function effectively in modern and future society. Looking Ahead While no one can ever predict the future with absolute accuracy, educators can plan for likely outcomes. Assessments like PISA show there are significant challenges to be addressed but, as Ben Newsome indicated, there are also massive opportunities to embrace the potential of new and emerging technologies within education. There is no denying that the ability to deliver accessible education for all, that is meaningful and relevant to the future workplace, will be crucial. ETS Mei Lin Low, director at Polycom Asia Pacific for Education and Healthcare Industries, is a technologist and advocate for business transformation in industries, including education and healthcare, through video, voice and collaboration tools. For a full list of references, email info@interactivemediasolutions.com.au

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From Test To Competence: Achieve What Matters Most

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| By Tom March |

How Did We Get Here? In two preceding articles, the author argued for using tests to drive innovation and to define these radical tests based on criteria clearly linked to a school’s core values. With this context, this article offers three examples to inspire a school community to achieve what matters most! The premise is simple and blindingly obvious: to achieve great outcomes, schools should know what they are looking for, see whether they are achieving it and use the result to do more of the good and fix the bad. As much as this sounds like commonsense, few schools operate on such a premise. Sure, schools have students take lots of tests, but those that ‘matter most’ are tied to the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and Year 12 Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATARs), with nary a link or wink to continuous improvement and they certainly ignore many of the significant goals expressed in the school’s vision and values. While teachers and school leaders work very hard and with great commitment, it is within a system that runs, yet fails to innovate; that churns through new initiatives, yet makes little positive change. Because every school is at a different place in its journey for continuous improvement and managing change, three examples follow so that action can be taken immediately at different levels: classroom teachers, the school and the system. In the interest of brevity, one example will be used to illustrate each level. This is not to suggest that these are the only, or even the best, examples, but they do stand as powerful markers of what teachers can make happen. Teachers: GRASPS Tasks The late Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe are well known and respected for their Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. A core tenet of UbD is ‘backward design’, where learning targets are defined and assessments created that provide evidence of the desired learning, or as McTighe likes to say, “We have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that students have achieved the goals.” Wiggins and McTighe devised a useful acronym as a scaffold for creating engaging and authentic tasks: GRASPS. As Jay McTighe explains, “Grant Wiggins and I created a task design frame based on the acronym G.R.A.S.P.S. Here are the G.R.A.S.P.S. elements that are used to frame a performance task: (1) a real-world Goal; (2) a meaningful Role for the student; (3) authentic (or simulated) Audience(s); (4) a contextualised Situation that involves real-world application; (5) student-generated Products and Performances; and (6) performance Standards (criteria) by which successful performance would be judged.” (McTighe, 2015) Every classroom teacher could use such a scaffold to enrich current assessments in order to achieve the broader goals

expected by their school and community. As an example, consider a National Assessment Program (NAP) persuasive writing test and see how the standard approach might be upgraded. Various examples of the task stimulus can be found on the NAP writing page or Queensland’s persuasive writing test preparation page. For the purpose of this exercise, here is one example stimulus: Those familiar with the test will recognise the standard initial ‘What do you think?’ prompt and the coaching on structuring the essay, as well as the ‘Remember to’ bullet points. Using the GRASPS scaffold, teachers might come up with: Should students be allowed use mobile phones at school? You not only graduated from your school, but you are now its principal! (situation) A big part of your job is to support the school’s vision (role), something you believe in and that is important to parents and students. How does mobile use relate to these values? You have heard arguments from teachers, students and parents (audience) on both sides and now you need to write an article on this for the school newsletter (performance/product). Think about how phone use by students can be good and bad and decide on your overall opinion. Because you are trying to persuade people to understand your view (goal), use the school vision to make your case, include the persuasive writing criteria that you have practiced, and so people can easily follow your ideas, use the intro - body - conclusion format (standards). With these simple adjustments, teachers have stayed true to the NAP requirements and even improved on them by encouraging use of the marking criteria. The upgrade also prompts students to integrate their school’s values and how these come to life when challenged, thus bringing what matters most to the school into classroom learning and students’ thoughtful reflection. Finally, accenting a real goal through the role, audience and situation bodes well for outright student achievement on the writing task, as evidence by research into intrinsic motivation. (Maarten et al, 2006) Schools: Del Lago Academy’s Competency-Based Learning As powerful as one teacher’s efforts to enrich learning through richer learning tasks can be, imagine what happens when a whole school takes on this mission. Del Lago Academy, EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 033

feature in Escondido, California, is one such school. Like many schools, Del Lago posts its mission on its website in four overarching goals: • bring relevance to the daily curriculum in all content areas • develop habits of work • foster college and career exposure and exploration • expand scholars’ social networks and access to opportunities. A few short paragraphs cannot do justice to what the leaders, teachers and scholars (students) are growing at Del Lago Academy, but it includes a completely interdisciplinary curriculum, lots of writing as assessments, Year 11 internships for all students, authentic audiences for each project, team teaching and structuring the school to promote conversations and easy access between teachers and scholars. In respect to the current topic, their competency-based model illustrates how a whole school can use assessments to support its goals for student learning. As a long-time advocate of using student competency – rather than the calendar – to determine progress through a curriculum, I was eager to dig deeper into what happens when a school takes on such a challenge and spoke with Keith Nuthall, principal of Del Lago Academy, who thoughtfully reflected on their journey so far. Nuthall said, “The competencies tell a very important story. One thing we do every year is we take all our assessments for a grade level and lay them all out in one room at one time. And then have different grade levels walk down and look at the assessments with the lens of, ‘If you look at what we are measuring, what does it tell students about what we value?’ This built-in, ongoing reflection helps keep the alignment between their core values and daily classroom practice.” Nuthall went on to offer insights that only come from experience, “As it becomes important to the students to reach the competency, sometimes the end result is that it narrows the curriculum. You have to be super, super

careful or you’re going to create a culture on campus of ‘you gotta get them through’. That was something that didn’t come to mind until you live it.” As education shifts to a bring your own device (BYOD)/personal device reality, a competency-based approach makes far more sense than having all students working in lock-step; it is helpful to hear about the challenges that follow. One strategy Del Lago is experimenting with this year sees Year 12 students essentially creating their own ‘capstone’ course and performance task. Because only three of four courses are required, as Nuthall said, “Rather than create an elective that ‘we thought would be good for them’, we let them design it.” This is one way to expand that narrowing tendency inherent in a competencybased approach: to send a message to all students that the ‘big game’ is total choice and performance. “It might be an internship. It might be a class at the local community college. It might be a project. It might be volunteering,” suggests Nuthall. Clearly, Keith Nuthall and his team and scholars at Del Lago Academy are pushing engaged learning and growing what is possible today and hinting at what others should pay attention to as they catch up. Systemic Mastery: Silicon Valley ‘Blooms’ All change is easier when everyone is doing it. Conversely, the status quo seems immutable when people are surrounded by what they have always known. With these two truths in mind, this article is concluded with a blending of the old and new. 1 Sigma Mastery Learning 1984 was not only famous as George Orwell’s prescient flip on 1948 and the introduction of the Macintosh computer, but a virtually forgotten study by Benjamin Bloom (of Bloom’s Taxonomy fame). His article The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring described studies into a mastery approach to teaching and learning. In summary, the article reveals findings

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on two variations to conventional classroom teaching. One variation used the conventional classroom and 30 students, but applied a mastery learning approach with formative tests, feedback, corrective procedures and parallel tests. Students in this group performed one standard deviation above students in the conventional class (84 percent versus 50 percent). A third group used the same mastery approach, but with students working one-on-one with a trained tutor. These students performed two standard deviations above the control group. In other words, a randomly selected student tutored using mastery learning moved from the 50th to the 98th percentile! As the article’s title emphasises, the ‘problem’ was how to scale that 1:1 benefit to classroom instruction. It is still surprising how little attention has been paid to the effectiveness of classroom-based mastery learning. Maybe that is about to change! Invent the Future by Designing The Present Rich assessments and a mastery approach have demonstrated their effectiveness for over 25 years with greater acceptance in the US than Australia. Perhaps these models might gain greater scrutiny now that recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores by Australian students indicate slides in outright performance, let alone in comparison to other Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) schools. What can be hoped for is that any new strategies will be richer than basic skills, will include what is most important to the lives of children, be based on rigorous research and yield evidence that is used. After all, this is the kind of work teachers expect from their students. ETS Tom March is the Director of Innovation K-12 at Hobsons Edumate and is a longtime contributor of strategies for making learning more real, rich and relevant. He can be contacted via email tom@ ozline.com or tom.march@hobsons.com

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officespace

Using Google Drive Successfully in the Primary School

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| By Paul Connelly | Moving Beyond Personalised Learning With the increased implementation of personalised devices in 1-1 programs across the education sector, the temptation is to think that technology will become the main conduit through which learning will occur. The seemingly exciting possibilities offered by adaptive learning programs offer glimpses to a horizon in which personalised learning can be found, through which personalised devices feed content directly to the student. However, as Audrey Watters from Educating Modern Learners notes, there are serious problems with personalised learning being the holy grail of education. She writes: “the problem with personalisation via adaptive software isn’t simply that “it doesn’t work”. It’s that it might work — work to obliterate meaningful and powerful opportunities for civics, for connection, for community. Work to obliterate agency for students. And work not so much to accelerate learning, but to accelerate educational inequalities.1” Personally, this was highlighted in the 2009 release of Star Trek, in which a young Spock is shown in the Vulcan schooling equivalent2. The camera pans around a vast space in which students are immersed in bowl-shaped virtual reality environments with artificial intelligence providing tutoring through a call-and-response verbal interaction, while screens laden with complex mathematical algorithms transverse in front of the young children. At first glance, this appears to be a natural extension of our adaptive learning tools with 1-1 programs and a peek into the future of education. However, on a closer inspection, I felt utter repulsion. The isolation of the students, whilst providing truly personalised instruction, was merely devoid of community and social learning. Where was the teamwork, the collaboration, the interaction with others? Where was the deep inquiry, the critical thinking, the creativity? What lay beyond the impressive regurgitation of facts? While quickly becoming a misnomer, the 21st Century Skills framework3 of communication, collaboration, critical

thinking, and creativity provide the foundational basis for contemplating the use of technology in the schooling context and avoiding a future Vulcanesque education system. Therefore, the challenge that teachers face is to use the personalised devices that are available in their classrooms to ensure that they are not used exclusively for efficient delivery of content, as alluring as the notions of personalised learning may appear, but rather use their expanding functionality to meet and exceed the pedagogical implementation the 4Cs within the curriculum. Real-Time Collaboration: Game Changing A surprisingly strong candidate for this pedagogical implementation has been cloud-based office productivity tools. While lacking the glamour of a big data, adaptive learning system, solutions like Google Drive, Office 365, or to a lesser extent, iCloud, offer far more to schools than simply another method of word processing or spreadsheets. They offer real-time collaboration. This is the game changer that educational practitioners have been seeking when considering 21st Century Skills in their classrooms. It also offers a fundamental shift in the manner in which personalised devices can be used to completely redefine the pedagogical paradigm. This is due to the ability for all stakeholders (students, teachers, administrators, parents, etc.) being able to create, share, edit and interact on a particular document, spreadsheet or presentation in real-time, on any internet-connected device, without the restriction of physical location. That is groundbreaking. Suddenly personalised devices are no longer expensive content delivery systems, but tools which offer immersive and fully collaborative work spaces. Consider for a moment the manner in which this collaborative process may have occurred in the past: one student would have created a document on Word, made their edits, and then emailed the document

to a classmate. The classmate would have waited till they received the email, then made their changes, saved a copy of the document, and emailed it back to the next person, and so on. Inefficient, sequential, tedious and procedural. Similar experiences could be felt with USB sticks or shared drive implementations. Remember “this document is locked for editing by another user” error messages? With cloud-based, office productivity tools, these experiences become distant memories as the user creates, edits, shares and interacts with others on work, through the browser, with functionality, including: auto-saving, revision control, permission structure, commenting, online chat, off-line continuation, and most features one would expect from office productivity programs. Google Drive, iPads and Firbank Grammar Within my context at Firbank Grammar, Google Drive has proven to be the most stable and reliable implementation of real-time collaboration within an office productivity suite. The school is a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) environment, and uses OneLogin to handle the authentication of users between Google Drive and the school’s user control system. Our Google Drive implementation is managed by our network administrator, which offers particular features and limitations compared to a personal Google Drive account – such as organisational permission sharing, and user directory quick lookups. The school did investigate other cloud-based, office productivity solutions, but found Google Drive to be the most mature and capable solution at the time. A rock solid fibre internet connection internally and externally has ensured that cloud migration has occurred with teachers feeling that they can safely rely on the service. I teach a class of Year 5 girls within an IB PYP curriculum framework, and all students have a parent-bought iPad. The classroom is kitted out with an interactive TV connected to

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Apple TV and a Windows 8 PC. Additionally, each classroom has 6 PCs and access to shared printers. All teachers are provided with a school-owned iPad and Windows 8 notebook. Due to Google Drive’s agnostic platform requirement, the multi-layered operating system and device environment has been perfectly suited for such an implementation. The Google Drive iPad apps that students primarily use are fairly basic in functionality4 compared to the laptop/desktop browser versions; however, the real-time collaboration engine is completely integrated into the iOS apps. 7 Examples of Google Drive Utilisation in the Classroom Within the last 12 months, the Firbank Junior School at Brighton have steadily migrated their administrative and teaching practices to Google Drive from a shared drive arrangement. Here are some examples of where Google Drive has been used within this educational context. 1. Writing Conference Collaborative work with students prior to Google Drive was problematic, and the writing conference is a prime example of this scenario. Previously, students would bring their exercise books to the teacher, who would then proceed to read the writing and then make annotations in red pen, or make verbal inferences of which the student would have to recall when later sitting at their desk. It was generally a passive learning environment for the student, and it was far from participatory. With Google Drive, I asked the students to write their narratives directly on their iPads using the Docs app. Whenever they needed help or had completed their first draft, they were instructed to bring their iPads to a table where myself and the student could sit sideby-side. I then opened the document on my notebook and together we would edit the narrative directly onto our separate devices, whilst maintaining an open dialogue between us. This meant that I could point out a punctuation error, for example, indicate its location using text colour tool, and then scan for the next teaching point, while the student made the correction on the spot.

The students really appreciated this system because they felt included in the process, and concluded with a polished story rather than a page full of red ink. Additionally, when it came to assessing, I could click through the revision tree as the colour of the revision corresponded to the user who made the edit, and determine the progression of the narrative from draft through to the finalised piece.

2. Group Work As emphasised by the 4Cs, the notions of teamwork and collaboration amongst students is a critical pedagogical imperative. Therefore, there are many learning activities where students are required to produce something or annotate their thinking together. Previously this may have materialised on a large piece of butchers paper with textas, or a Word document that was emailed around. In an example of this scenario, using Google Drive, I placed students into teams of three to four each and gave them 20 minutes to compose a poem together that was linked to our Unit of Inquiry. The students sat tightly, either at their desks or on the floor in a circle. One student in the team then created a document using the Docs app on their iPad, then shared the document natively with their teammates, who subsequently opened it and began composing the poem together. One student in a particular team had the battery go flat on their iPad, so they opened the document on one of the school desktops and collaboratively created the poem from the other side of the room from her team. Due to the nature of the technological environment, the room was buzzing with deep conversation about the poems, and some students favoured vocalising their thoughts, while other group members

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made the changes to the document, which were then approved in real-time by other teammates as they watched the text appear on their screens.

3. Whole Class Civics and citizenship curricula often focus on the democratic nature of our society. However, this can be difficult to replicate using technology within the classroom. At the beginning of our Units of Inquiry, students compose ‘wondering questions’ about the central idea, and then vote on the most pertinent questions. Previously, the questions may have been transcribed by myself on the interactive whiteboard and voting would have been a teacher-run affair. In this scenario, I created a blank document in Google Drive on my notebook and then shared the document with my class distribution list. The students then opened the document on their iPads and proceeded to list all their wondering questions on the document in one long list. Once all the questions had been listed, I presented the live document on the interactive TV and then, as a class, we removed duplicates from the list. Afterwards, the students then placed emoji ticks next to questions that they thought were the most relevant to them while I monitored the user tags to ensure the voting was being conducted in a fair manner. Some caveats should be noted for this. Firstly, the students must learn to ‘play fair’ in this environment. Whole page selects and random deleting of other’s work quickly degenerate the collaborative nature of the task. However, with encouragement, they can navigate these temptations. Secondly, there is currently a limitation of 50 simultaneous users. We have occasionally

pushed this limit when collaboratively editing with an entire year level. While unwieldy, it can be managed.

4. Quizzes and Surveys One particular feature of Google Drive that is beyond the normal functionality of traditional office productivity software is the ability to create forms. These forms can then be used for quizzes, surveys or assessments. The data from the forms created in Google Drive can be stored in a spreadsheet and analysed using add-ons like Flubaroo. This add-on is extremely powerful in quickly determining student performance on an assessment, and questions where the class may have performed poorly. I have used Forms in a number of scenarios, including voting for the next class book, assessing diagnostic maths tests, receiving feedback about my teaching performance from parents, and sign-ups to various extracurricular activities. Forms is an impressive addition as it has the capability to either allow public members or just the specified students complete the form, as well as the potential to capture the respondent’s email address, timestamp, and restrict their ability to complete multiple responses. 5. Interview Slots There are many cases where the need for specialised software can be replaced by a little bit of work in Google Drive. A case in point was the process previously used by the school for managing student-led conferences. This was a tedious process in the past, with a system that did not allow collaboration amongst staff. By setting up a spreadsheet in Sheets on my notebook, I used the tabs

to prevent page overflow and then tightly managed the permissions by cells or by tabs to ensure staff would not inadvertently delete or edit the slot framework. Staff quickly migrated to the new system and, using cell-locking, were able to collaboratively negotiate different family or student requirements between siblings in different year levels rather smoothly. When conflicts arose regarding whether a staff member had or had not made a particular change, the revision control quickly determined the situation. Additionally, staff could then take their iPads to a meeting and make changes on-the-spot when negotiating verbally. Part-time staff used the in-page commenting system to communicate their desires with other staff who received email notifications when comments appeared. 6. Homework While still in a migratory pattern, the delivery of the homework began to change this year as staff became more comfortable with producing PDFs, then uploading to Google Drive and creating shareable URLs that appeared on their blogs. Some staff discovered how to make the URLs directly downloadable, rather than redirecting to Google Drive first. In addition to these implementations, I used Google Drive as a method for the students to record their nightly reading logs in a shared spreadsheet. The sheet was split into seven tabs, for each day of the week, with the student names in the first column. Students would then add details about the book they were reading, along with a review at the conclusion of the book. This then allowed other students to see what books other students were reading, and become inspired to read outside their usual repertoire. 7. Report Moderation Handling student data is a complicated task at the best of times, particularly for staff who shy away from specialised gradebook software packages, or who shallowly use spreadsheet functionality when attempting to determine the spread of grades across a cohort. Using Google Drive, my Year 5 team, consisting of three teachers, combined

our student data on common assessment tasks, and then manipulated the data to determine the distribution of results. All the functions normally relied upon in Excel are present in Sheets, as well as useful formatting tools like conditional formatting. This methodology reduced the stress of the team as we could collaboratively interact with the data whilst verbally engaging in conversation to ensure the moderation process was rapidly completed. Additionally, but not storing the spreadsheet on a shared drive, it was significantly easier for the team to access the data from home when writing reports. The spreadsheet could also be shared with the literacy and numeracy co-ordinators who could insert comments to provide feedback or context on particular results. Conclusion Google Drive offers teachers the ability to move beyond regarding devices like iPads as simply a method of providing personalised instruction and move into the realm of the 21st Century Skills framework of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. This cloud-based productivity suite achieves this desired pedagogical outcome through the powerful real-time collaborative feature which radically changes the classroom technological environment, and frees the curriculum from physical location or platform dependence. Within the primary school, the emphasis shifts from the technology and back to learning as students can collaboratively use Google Drive to inquire, and think deeply and critically, whilst maintaining their focus on the teamwork or creative aspects of the activity as demonstrated through the examples listed above. Additionally, staff administrative practices can also be significantly enhanced through the migration to Google Drive. ETS Paul Connelly is a Year 5 Teacher at Firbank Grammar, Brighton Campus, Junior School. You can follow him on Twitter at @pconnellyelearn 1 – http://modernlearners.com/the-problem-withpersonalization 2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvMxLpce3Xw 3 – http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/4csposter.pdf 4 – The iOS apps offer basic text formatting features, but critically, currently lack image embedding natively from the iPad. Tables too are not currently supported.

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The Best Features Of Australian Education

| By Shelley Kinash | Part one of this two-part article in the previous issue of Education Technology Solutions described the first six of 15 commendable features of education that can be found in Australian schools and universities that should be celebrated and shared: Australian education is student focused. Australian education develops studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; minds and bodies. Australian students are taught to think and how to learn. Australian teachers promote active learning. Australian teachers build strong and caring relationships with their students. Australian education is personalised and equitable.

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Part two concludes the article by outlining the remaining nine features: Australian education provides pastoral care to those in need. Australian education is varied, giving students access to numerous disciplines. Australian students have access to portals and learning management systems. Australian students do most of their study on their own computers. Australian students have access to useful software and applications. Australian assessment is well designed and promotes quality feedback. Australian students are given rubrics to guide their work. Australian education focuses on graduate outcomes. Australian graduates have skills for careers and further study.

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Nextstep 7. Pastoral Care Pastoral care means that schools and institutions create an environment of care and nurturing. They provide the supports that students need to thrive academically, socially, physically and spiritually. Schools and universities have counsellors, nurses and sometimes doctors, tutors, career advisors and many other types of professionals. They provide elite sports centres to help students to make arrangements with their teachers when their training schedules and competitions take them off campus for extended periods. There are prayer rooms and student lounges. All of these services and supports are genuinely provided and there is no negative stigma applied to the students who access these resources. 8. Multi-disciplinary The world is not compartmentalised into tidy separate boxes of science, maths, language, arts, business, law and other such disciplines. Neither should education. In order to thrive in careers and lead change, people need to be able to draw upon and interconnect thinking and processes from across and between disciplines. It is vitally important not to stream students into disciplines and careers too early and, even when they have made a career decision, they need to turn the lenses on understanding from multiple perspectives and frameworks. One of the champions of multi-disciplinary education in higher education is called the Melbourne model. Students complete a generalist and varied undergraduate degree before specialising through their postgraduate studies. 9. Online Systems Almost every school and post-secondary institution in Australia organises education online through a learning management system (LMS), such as Blackboard or Moodle. Students and teachers have one-stop-shop access to assessment instructions, learning

materials, schedules and interactive tools. Through the LMS, students submit their assignments and teachers provide feedback. Students can test their subject mastery through completing formative online tests and they can access tutorials and demonstrations for extra help. They can track their grades and progress. They can post comments and ask questions of their teacher and peers. Online education systems to complement the face-to-face teaching approach have become so successful that they are nearly invisible technologies in Australia. 10. One-to-One Computers Over the past decade, Australian education has increasingly moved away from paper towards digital and networked systems. The main item in a student’s backpack is now a laptop computer or tablet. Textbooks are increasingly online and interactive. Assignments are written on their computers and submitted online, after which teachers reply with online feedback and enter grades into digital grade books. Rather than asking students to open their textbooks, teachers give them a URL. Many classrooms have smartboards rather than blackboards or even whiteboards. Smartboards are internet-connected and can display the work from an individual student’s laptop. 11. Software and Apps Alongside supporting student one-toone hardware (laptop computers or tablets), Australian educators ensure that students have the software and apps they need to maximise digital capacity. Most Australian laptops that are used for education are loaded with the latest versions of the full Microsoft and Adobe suites. That way, students are learning the tools that they will likely be using in their future workplaces for desktop publishing, digital video editing and spreadsheeting. One of the more popular education apps that is common to find on tablets and

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smartphones is Evernote, which allows students to take notes, capture photos, share perspectives and access on any device because the content is stored in the cloud. 12. Assessment and Feedback One of the leading contemporary Australian educational theorists, David Boud, is famous for saying, “Students can survive bad teaching, but they cannot survive bad assessment.” Assessment is not just for confirming achievement in subject matter. Assessment is a key learning tool. Assessment and feedback go hand-in-hand, as Australian teachers give students lots of specific feedback throughout their studies so that students can apply it to continually reinforce and build their learning. When students look back on their education, one of the major features they often recall is significant assessment that helped them learn. It is important to map out the purpose and rationale for each piece of assessment. Australian educators provide a wide variety of assessment to accomplish diverse learning objectives. While multiple choice exams test memorisation and essays reinforce academic skills, reports prepare students for workplace skills. Increasingly, students are creating assessment that is posted online and can have real impact. For example, rather than submitting an essay that only the teacher will read, on a teacherassigned topic, students will choose a topic that they are passionate about and create a published online blog. 13. Rubrics When Australian students are creating an assessment piece, they usually have an online rubric open alongside. Rubrics are usually designed as tables. The columns of the table have the range of grades from High Distinction (A+) to Pass (D). The rows have the different elements of the assessment, such as Research, Critical Thinking and Grammar. Details are provided within each of the boxes. Students who are

In order to thrive in careers and lead change, people need to be able to draw upon and interconnect thinking and processes from across and between disciplines. striving for top grades can read specific advice about what they will need to do for that level of achievement. Secondary school teachers often read a draft of an assignment before a final submission. They attach the rubric to the front of the draft, and on that rubric the teacher has highlighted the boxes where the assignment currently rests. If students want to improve their final grade on the assignment, they know which elements need more work. 14. Graduate Employability To be employable is to have the knowledge, skills, attributes, reflective capacities and identity one needs to secure and maintain careers and contribute to the knowledge economy. Being employable also means that graduates will be able to ebb and flow with career-market changes brought on by digital evolution. In Australia, graduate employability features in the strategic plans of most universities. Supports and strategies for graduate employability are not left only to campus-based career centres. Employability supports go beyond teaching students résumé writing and interview skills. Employability is embedded throughout the curriculum and assessment. Educators talk to students about what they are studying and how this relates to their future employability. 15. Skills-Based There is increasing world-wide concern that students are graduating from secondary and post-secondary education without the skills they need to thrive in their communities and

workplaces. Specific technical skills, such as learning to operate particular types of machinery or software, shifts, changes and becomes obsolete. This does not mean that students should not be taught these skills, because this experience teaches them how to learn. They will have learned the processes and frameworks for the next iteration of technical skills. Students also need to learn and develop superskills. The main desirable super-skills are communication (spoken and written), demonstration of motivation and selfinitiative, and leadership. Students need many interactive educational experiences in which to develop and practise these skills. What Students Need In summary, what students need, and what they are usually provided through Australian education thanks to dedicated teachers and well-designed systems, are: • teachers, schools and universities who care about students’ learning and their overall happiness and development • opportunities to learn, play, socialise, get fresh air and appreciate the joy of the world around them • guidance in how to think and how to channel their brain power for learning, achievement and success • variety and engaging learning opportunities that invite students to do, experiment, create and discover • role models, inspiration and assurance of being cared for and cared about • education that is adaptable to unique student needs and

that supports the development of each and every learner • extra supports and guidance, if and when each student needs them • mind-expanding curriculum allowing students to learn about pure and social sciences, math, language, culture, health, humanities and the arts • efficient and user-friendly systems so that they can stay organised and have ready access to information and interactive tools • infrastructure to allow students to bring their own devices, have support and training to use these devices, as well as access to current software and reliable Wi-Fi • assessment that helps them learn, and immediate and specific feedback so that their learning is shaped, guided and reinforced • clear guidelines for their assessment so that students have the opportunity to meet teachers’ expectations • employability support and strategies so that students graduate with the suitable technical and super-skills that they need in communication, problem solving and managing change to evolve with new digital workplaces and careers. ETS

Dr Shelley Kinash is the Director of Learning and Teaching at Bond University. She can be contacted via email at skinash@bond.edu.au

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Can Collaborative Lessons Be Successfully Delivered Online? | By Kathleen Mills | The advent of hand-held devices accessing the World Wide Web has reinvigorated the debate about how to best use technology to aid students in learning. Bishop and Verleger (2013), believe the rise of this technology permits information to be more widely disseminated at a much lower cost. Yet various researchers report free online education content to be of poor quality (Herreid & Schiller, 2013), inappropriate (Bugeja, 2006; Fang, 2009), or just too distracting (Bugeja, 2007; Fang, 2009, Fried, 2007). Fried’s (2007) study shows the use of classroom laptops actually decreased student achievement. Some instructors still ban devices and mobile phones to prevent interruptions or cheating, while others just contend with them (Campbell, 2006; Slomanson, 2014; Yee, 2012). Technology-ready schools jump on the bandwagon, hoping to take advantage of a plethora of available webready content, but fail to take into account the commercial nature and quality of the purportedly “free” content. Most early adopters discover developing online courses or content for use in 1:1 and flipped classrooms requires extensive hours of teacher-intensive preparation or customised software and infrastructure that is often cost prohibitive (Johnson, Levine, & Smith, 2009; Phillips & Trainor, 2014; Sowash, 2012; Slomanson, 2014). Open Educational Resources (OER) have world-wide hubs for teacher sharing of lessons and their number is growing exponentially. Specific issues and barriers can best be evaluated by searching the OER Research Evidence Hub. Despite a growing repository, besides games and simulations, OER generally lack student collaborative capabilities. A New OER Platform Exploros.com is a web-based company whose goal is to provide students, teachers, schools and publishers a platform for hosting and obtaining quality lessons. The Exploros product,

called a “learning experience,” is available for download (by subject) in a marketplace called the “Exploros Marketplace Exchange” (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Exploros Marketplace Exchange.

Much like an ebook or music file, teachers can add an Open Educational Resource (OER) to their accounts. Experiences currently in the Marketplace Exchange are contributed by teachers, education partners, and the curriculum team at Exploros. Learning Experience Delivery Online delivery requires teachers and students have Exploros accounts and devices such as computers, laptops, or tablets (such as iPads or Chromebooks) with updated browsers and connections to the Internet. Once a learning experience is loaded into their account, teachers schedule delivery using a simple date and time calendar. Experiences can run for any length of time, as little as 10 minutes or many weeks. Students are notified of the opening of the experience in an automated email. Once a lesson is closed, students can no longer access it and the lesson is archived in the student’s account. Teachers can extend any learning experience if the preset time hasn’t expired. To be invited to a learning experience, the “student” registers with a school email address and then “connects” to one or more teacher accounts using a unique identifying number assigned by Exploros. Exploros also supports Google classroom EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 045

Let’sTalkPedagogy

student account imports. (Fig. 2).

for teacher tips or answer keys. In addition to real time commenting capability, the footer menu allows selection of the Dashboard icon to review student scene progress and access downloadable Pack resources (Fig. 4).

the protected environment to specific websites deemed “appropriate.” Exploros also permits embedding of video and/or audio elements for sites with stable urls. If starting from scratch, there is no need to learn HTML programming to instantly sequence online activities. Exploros provides tools to drop in these sequential elements (Fig. 5).

Fig. 2. Exploros web login.

Enrolled students perform a variety of tasks while stepping through scenes designed by teachers or affiliated authors. Students scroll down and encounter various “elements”. When completed, the student taps sequentially through completed scenes numbers, shown in the upper right. Unless a preset number of requirements are met, students cannot proceed to the next scene.

Fig. 3. Sample content from Scene 3.

Exploros “elements” allow students to read content, view images, watch videos, listen to audio files, jump to hyperlinked sites, enter data into tables, submit photos, answer multiple choice and essays, plus download worksheets and other files for completion offline. What makes Exploros different is the ability for students to collaborate in real time and share their experiences. When students tap “share to group”, others can immediately view class word walls, the results of group polls, etc. There is even a simple drawing pallet for labelling diagrams or creating their own diagrams. When experiences are live, individual student responses can be viewed by the teacher and inappropriate comments deleted. The teacher view of the experience additionally displays the “note element”

Fig. 4. Teacher view of an Exploros Experience showing footer icons. Fig. 5. Authoring with elements.

Free Teacher Accounts and Subscriptions Basic accounts are free to teachers and students. This permits access to all core OER in the Marketplace, dashboard and pack resources as well as integration with Google classroom and the ability to schedule and archive student experiences as a portfolio. With subscriptions, teachers can clone the lessons of others or learn to author their own lessons from scratch, all without needing to know HTML programming language. Additionally, teachers can view individual student performance metrics. To evaluate the overall experience, Exploros allows teacher feedback on the perceived value of the content and activities. Through the Marketplace Exchange, experiences can be compared, rated, reviewed and referred via email. Scripting Lessons and Subscriptions Authoring lessons in Exploros can be as easy as “cloning” a previously downloaded experience, then adding a new “element” editing, or deleting one. However, for those people who wish to delve deeper into the experience, Exploros provides an extensive manual with scripting recommendations. Authors can choose to charge for their lessons, share them freely, or allow cloning. Uploading graphics or including hyperlinks to existing content is made easy. Students can jump out of

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Just like a storyboard is used for shooting scenes in a movie, a running script of all content should be stored offline in a single document with accompanying graphics and supporting files. The storyboard is one way to track changes in online content that acts as the working draft and can be grammar checked. After edits are copied and pasted to the online text element, the content is pushed from the authoring account to the teacher’s live account. A record of changes can be a crucial time saver in instances such as the accidental deletion of an element, image or entire scene. Simple word processing software that enables hyperlinks and image placement should suffice. Exploros also allows batched HTML downloads for backups. Exploros is a great way for teachers to access and share quality lesson plans and online content. Not only does it help to minismise class prep time so that teachers can focus more on teaching but it also provides schools with a way to track student progress, develop meaningful metrics, share and integrate new content and a whole range of other great benefits. What’s more, teachers can begin access content immediately at no charge. For more information visit exploros.com ETS

Kathleen Mills, Miami University of Ohio

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iPads: Consuming Versus Creating EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 049

professionaldevelopment

| By Grant Jones | There is no denying that iPads in classrooms are here to stay. Many schools use their iPad ‘banks’ as selling points for their clientele – “We have just purchased 60 iPads for our primary classes” or “each class in our school now has 15 iPads to work with”. This is fantastic, but the big overarching question is – are schools getting the best out of their iPad investment? The idea of consuming versus creating with iPads is extremely relevant in today’s schooling system with a majority of schools in Australia having iPads in the classroom. Whether it be the school purchasing a bank of iPads or a school adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) policy, these amazing devices are an invaluable learning and creative tool for students to work with. So many questions do arise though with the integration of iPads. Are they the 21st century ‘shut up’ sheet? Are they only being used as a consuming, recall of facts tool? Do the creative tools on an iPad really fit into a teaching program? What is a good balance of consuming versus creating with the iPad? Consuming The idea or notion of consuming with an iPad is simply gaining information, playing a recall game, or being entertained. YouTube, iBooks, Safari, iTunes TV shows and movies, and all the various reader-type apps are simple examples to highlight what consuming with an iPad means. Consuming by no means is a terrible teaching tool. There are amazing educational apps with a lot of merit to assist students in their educational development, especially in the early years. Recalling of maths facts or letter formation apps for kindergarten allow students to develop and consolidate skills, but the iPad should not be limited to just this. Many classrooms across many schools are loading up their iPads with ‘shut up’ apps. Most teachers are all guilty of handing an iPad to someone who is finished and saying, “Go do something on the iPad”. Teachers need to make sure that the iPad is not their

new ‘shut up’ sheet for the future-focused classroom in the 21st century.

and effective way to integrate iPads into the learning and teaching program is by using the SAMR model. The Substitution Professional Development Augmentation Modification Redefinition One of the leading questions that I model offers a method of seeing how am constantly asked by teachers at computer technology might impact conferences I present at is, “Do you know teaching and learning. It also shows a a good app for (insert subject area)?” While progression that adopters of educational I am all for sharing my knowledge, it does technology often follow as they progress Selection spark the question – ifApp schools are investing Criteria through teaching and learning with Remembering Criteria how thousands of dollars into buying iPads, technology. Below is the SAMR Remembering: Apps that fit into the "remembering" improve much money is going into professionally Modelstage with links to Bloom’s iMov Creative Book the user's ability to define terms, identify facts, and recall and locate Toontastic developing their staff? As with interactive information. Many educational apps fall intoTaxonomy, the "remembering"which gives a G phase of learning. They askthem users to select wide an answervariety out of a of apps Halftone 2 whiteboards, many schools bought DrawingPad line-up, find matches, and sequence content or input answers Photogene ChatterPix Write for each classroom, but only gave minimal (The Padagogy Understanding Criteria Doodlecast Pro Story professional development and, to this day, Wheel, Allan Creator Photo Pic Collage Pictello Understanding: Apps that fit into this "understanding" stage Reminders they are still being used as glorified provide opportunities projector for students to explainCarrington). ideas or concepts. Understanding apps step away from the selection of PuppetPals 2 Pixelmator Audio screens and big screen TVs. I do fear that Boom a "right" answer and introduce a more open-ended format for students to summarise content and translate meaning. this will occur for iPads in education as well. EasyStudio Video BookCreator Shop Applying Criteria Even though iPads are extremely common WebAlbums Applying: Apps that fit into the applying stage Shadow in people’s lives (check out http://www. Recordium Puppet provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their Pro everysecond.io/apple toto implement see how ability learnedmany procedures and methods. iStopMotion They also highlight the ability to apply concepts in Apple products are sold percircumstances. minute), what is unfamiliar WhatsApp Jot used for personal use onAnalyzing devicesCriteria is markedly Facebook different to what educators would use in FB Messenger Analysing: Apps that fit into the "analysing" stage iBrainstorm user's ability to great differentiate between the classroom. Thereimprove aretheso many the relevant and irrelevant, determine relationships, Touch iTunes U websites, Facebookandgroups and people recognise the organisation of content.. Skype on Twitter who recommend Evaluatingand Criteriareview YouTube TED educational apps. Evaluating: Get Googling Apps that fit into and the "evaluating" Strip stage improve the user's ability to judge material discover what is out there. Simply typing ‘top Google+ Showbie Designer or methods based on criteria set by themselves or external sources. They help up students 10 creation apps for education’ brings a judge content reliability, accuracy, quality, effectiveness, Filemaker huge variety for teachers choose from. Go 14 and reachto informed decisions. Fring Creating Criteria Keep in mind though that a great app that Blackboard Opera Edmodo Mini works in one classroom mayApps not what is stage provide Creating: thatbe fit into the "creating" opportunities for students generate ideas, design Moodle needed in another classroom. Do not leave plans, and produce products. Mobile Clear Sea it to one person in the schoolLearning to think forcore of the wheel Roambi Immersive at the Analytics the 30 others. A teacher once said to me is the New Instructional Twitterrific Conference Pad in frustration, “I don’tDesign go into a teacher’s Simpleminds+ GroupBoard room and ask if they have a good grammar sheet, so I shouldn’t get asked what a good Pearltrees Notes Plus Use Your grammar app is.” Handwriting Numbers

Simulations are the most effective pedagogy to develop Creating graduate attributes and capabilities in learners, as well as address Creating with an iPad is so much more motivation. Please visit these Immersive Learning Resources which will help you design and build engaging experienced-based immersive scenarios. than filming with the camera. If teachers

are simply using it as a substitution http://tinyurl.com/ILMSimulations for paper and pencil, they are not using these devices to their highest potential. An easy

050 EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Dropbox Popplet

Educators need to assist their students to move through this model – from substitution where computer technology is used to perform the same task as was done before the use of computers, right up to redefinition, whereby computer technology allows for new tasks that were previously inconceivable. A simple example to see the progression of how the SAMR model works with a handwritten story: Explain Everything Notepad+ Mental • Substitution: a Word document replaces vie Note Feeddler Google a pen/pencil in a writing assignment. Garageband Flipbook Keynote http://tinyurl.com/posterV4 Polaris Notability Office Exel • Augmentation: a Word document and Smart Twitter Office 2 Evernote er’s Studio Do Ink text-to-speech function are used • Garageband to create a moving Edtechto Word Prezi iTunesU Attributes neu+Notes Educreations Motivation improve the writing process. soundtrack that would evoke emotion. Show Me • Modification: the document • Fotobabble to take pictures and record Wikipanion PowerPoint Quick Blooms Sketch created with aSAMR Word document and their voices speaking about the pictures. Voice Google Thread Docs text-to-speech function is shared • Intromaker to create an introduction and Puffin Browser Getting the best use out of the Padagogy Wheel on a Use blog feedback can credit reel. Kodable it as a where series of prompts or interconnected gears to check your teaching from planning to implementation Blogpress iAnnotate be received andThisincorporated • Teleprompter to assist with students The Attributes Gear: is the core of learning design. You must constantly revisit things like Sonic Pics to ethics, helpresponsibility improve quality of the saying lines. and the citizenship. Ask yourself iBooks question what will a graduate from this learning Wordpress experience ‘look like’ i.e. what is it that makes others writing. • iMovie to edit the final product. see them as successful? Ask ‘how does everything I do support these attributes andinstead capabilities?’ of Awesome • Redefinition: • Aurasma to allow viewers to watch Multi Quiz Note The Motivation Gear: Ask yourself ‘How does Maptini I build and teach give the learner aeverything written assignment, students videos. autonomy, mastery and purpose?’ Snap the Notion create short filmdesign using the These videos were also posted for parents The Bloomsa Gear: Helps you learning WolframAlpha objectives that achieve higher order thinking. Try to get at least one learning objective from each category. Veescope app and edit it inOnly to view on the class website. This project did after this are you ready for technology enhancement. Pages Kidspiration iMovie. take longer than simply publishing a diary The Technology Gear: Ask ‘How can this serve your pedagogy’? Apps are only suggestions, look for better ones & combine are more thatthe one in a days learning sequence. Gone of entry or story on a Word document, but the Quiz Your Ann’s The SAMR Model Gear: This is “How are you going Lizard Flashcards I Wish publishing a you have story with skills that the students learnt are much more to use the technologies chosen”? I would like to thank Tobias Rodemerk for the idea of Microsoft to for thebe valid and important to their educational FlipBoard the gears. Tobias is Word a teacher & works State Bitsboard Inspiration Institute for School Development Baden-Württemberg Maps Pro displayed development. (LS), Germany on the wall of a Allan Carrington classroom. The iPad is a oneWhen looking at consuming versus Wunder Microsoft Stumble The Padagogy Wheel First List OneNote Upon stop creation toolProject: whereby Language 21 languages creating, both are valid and have a place planned for 2016. For the latest in educators’ learning and teaching students canare‘app smash’ their Flashcard iDesign 2Screens languages see bit.ly/languageproject Machine way to a multimodal piece of work programs. Giving students the skills to create Standing on the Shoulders of Giants using iPads will equip them for their future that can be displayed on many Flashcards Presentation Screen This Taxonomy wheel, without the apps, was first discovered on Deluxe Chomp Timer the website One of Paul Hopkin’s educational consultancy platforms. fine example of appwebsite careers. Creating is a huge part of futuremmiweb.org.uk That wheel was produced by Sharon Artley and Quick was an adaption of Kathwohl and Anderson’s (2001) smashing (using more than one appadaption to of focused pedagogy and educators should Graph Paper Bloom (1956). The idea to further adapt it for the pedagogy Helper Priority possibilities with mobile devices, in particular the iPad, For V2.0 be allowing their students the opportunity to create a piece of work) is a response to a Matrix and V3.0 I have to acknowledge the creative work of Kathy Easy Course Notes Outliner Schrock on her website Bloomin’ Apps For the major revision myHomework theme from a text in Stage 3. Students were that be creators and deliver their knowledge in a iStudiez Pro Chart is V4.0 I have to thank the team of ADEs who created APPitic the Big World Lists for Education Projectand which Away has now closed multimodal way – 75 percent creating and taken by theApp themes in Home Polldaddy iThoughtsHD Assignments Developed by Allan Carrington Designing Outcomes 25 percent consuming would be a great by John Marsden and they created short Ideament Adelaide South Australia Email: allan@designingoutcomes.net Data Corkulous Analysis 3-minute films about refugees. The apps place to start! ETS Simple Note Penultimate The Padagogy Wheel by Allan Carrington is licensed under a Creative The Padagogy Wheel used were: Commons Attribution-nonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International V4.0 Published 010315 Based on a work at http://tinyurl.com/bloomsblog. • License. Veescope to create scenes in different Grant Jones is a Technology Teacher locations without leaving the school, with and PBL Leader St Marys Public School in the use of green screen technology. Brisbane.

The Padagogy Wheel V4.1

An easy and effective way to integrate iPads into the learning and teaching program is by using the SAMR model.

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Peer-To-Peer: The Fast Download To School Improvement | By Toby Trewin | While peer-to-peer networks are often much maligned for their breaches of copyright in sharing media, another type of peer-to-peer network is making a big impact in schools around the world. Peer coaching is becoming widespread in many business and industry areas, with its personalised, tailored approach reaping rewards for its improved output for staff. This professional development advantage is now being realised within educational circles with a particular focus on the gains to be made from ICT peer coaching for the benefit of teaching staff. ICT peer coaching is a relatively new and effective method of providing sustained professional development for staff within a school environment, with research showing this methodology can have the greatest impact on what happens in classrooms. Utilising the process of peer coaching to provide professional growth within the context of ICT has seen numerous benefits for both teachers and their students and, as a consequence, the improvement of the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance. With ICT capability now a

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feature requirement to be integrated within all school subjects through the delivery of the Australian Curriculum (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2014), a strong demand has been created to successfully train teachers in this new and evolving discipline and subsequently provide an engaging and relevant course of study for students. ICT peer coaching is a modern, ongoing method of implementing training for teachers to integrate 21st century learning for the benefit of their students. This service was previously conducted via instructorcentered, after-school workshops, which have been proven to be ineffective, changing teacher classroom behaviour less than 15 percent of the time (Showers, B. & Joyce, B. 1994). With time often the prime constraint in hindering professional growth, peer coaching provides continuous, collaborative and on-campus learning to solve common problems and challenges that teachers face in their workplace (Darling-Hammond, L., 2009). In a study of the world’s top-performing school systems, Barber and Mourshed (2007:29) described peer coaches as those who are trained in how to coach others, “…enter classrooms to observe teachers, give feedback, model instruction, and share in planning”. Systemic change and student achievement gains are seen to be produced by providing educators with structured opportunities to learn from one another (Fullan, 2001). This enables the opportunity to learn from one another on a sustained, ongoing basis. Peer coaching incorporates a collaborative and reflective learning methodology that changes teachers’ classroom practice more than 85 percent of the time (Showers & Joyce, 1994). Coaching involves a sustained, collaborative professional learning methodology that affects student achievement.

ICT peer coaching is a relatively new and effective method of providing sustained professional development for staff within a school environment. With national changes to school curriculum placing a renewed importance on the integration of ICT for students of all ages, ICT peer coaching becomes a valuable addition to a school’s professional development strategic plan. The Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA 2008) recognised that in a digital age, and with rapid and continuing changes in the ways that people share, use, develop and communicate with ICT, young people need to be highly skilled in its use. To participate in a knowledgebased economy and to be empowered within a technologically-sophisticated society now and into the future, students need the knowledge, skills and confidence to make ICT work for them at school, at home, at work and in their communities. This influence has been compounded by the implementation of the Australian Curriculum where students are required to develop ICT capability as they learn to use ICT effectively and appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school (Australiancurriculum.edu. au, 2014). Teaching staff are often under constant time restraints and restrictive access to meaningful and targeted professional development combine to limit the required integration of technology into the classroom.

Type of Training

Knowledge Mastery

Skill Acquisition

Classroom Application

Theory

85%

15%

5–10%

Practice

85%

80%

10–15%

Coaching, study teams, peer visits

90%

80–90%

This table was adapted from the research of Showers and Joyce on the impact of professional development. 054 EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Peer coaching provides coaches with a scalable and sustainable tool kit, including high-level communication skills such as active listening, paraphrasing, pausing, clarifying questions and probing questions to effectively collaborate with teachers and subsequently improve the classroom experience for students by incorporating learning technologies to enhance deep understanding. For a silver bullet solution to improve the teaching and learning in a school, consider peer coaching, a proven transformational process of improving learning for teachers and in turn their students, providing substantial gains in delivering a modern curriculum with integrated ICT for enhanced student understanding in a relevant context. The Microsoft ICT Peer Coaching Course is available from the following training providers: Design / Learn / Empower www.dle.net.au and Expanding Learning Horizons www.expandinglearninghorizons.com.au ETS Toby Trewin M.Ed. is the Education Technology Manager at Hale School, Perth, Western Australia, integrating innovative and effective technology in the classroom for staff and students. Toby’s recent achievements include selection as a Microsoft Innovative Education Expert Educator for utilising various technologies to engage students and peers in innovative ways to positively impact learning. In addition to this recent achievement, Toby was awarded as a Microsoft Innovative Teacher, delivered sessional lecturing at the University of Western Australia, provided course writing and panel membership at the School Curriculum and Standards Authority, became a qualified Microsoft ICT peer coaching facilitator and has presented at numerous educational conferences. Toby can be contacted via email at tct@hale.wa.edu.au For a full list of references, email info@interactivemediasolutions.com.au

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Scaling Flipped Learning:

Technology Strategy | By Jon Bergmann | “We don’t just want to flip classes; we want to flip schools.” Ignacio Romero, MT Groupo, Spain This sentiment expressed by Ignacio resounds with me. One of the greatest strengths of flipped learning has been its grassroots nature. It started with teachers trying to do what was best for their students and has grown into a worldwide movement. However, individual teachers often struggle to implement the model because their schools have not thought systemically about implementation. This series of articles addresses how schools and systems can scale flipped learning in order to have highly effective flipped learning environments. In my first article in Issue #74, I discussed the technological needs. In the second in Issue #75, I covered the pedagogical shift and the teacher evaluation changes required to scale flipped learning. This article will address how learning spaces change as a result of the flipped class, how schools can accommodate and prepare for the change and what is required to achieve student buy-in. Prior to flipping my class, students faced the front of the room. The focus of the room was on the screen and a whiteboard. I used PowerPoint to display slides and used the whiteboard to work out chemistry problems. I, the teacher, was the focus of the room. But when I flipped my class, I got away from the front of the room. No longer was the purpose of the room content dissemination; instead, the purpose was active learning. I rarely turned my projector on because students were busy learning in the class. As I realised that the focus of the room was no longer on teaching, but rather learning, I rethought many things. One of them was how to best utilise space to accommodate teaching with the flipped classroom in mind. Rearrange Furniture First, I simply rearranged the furniture. Instead of the tables in nice neat rows, I arranged the furniture in a way that fostered student collaboration, movement, problem solving and exploration. Rearranging the furniture may seem like a small thing, but it led to powerful learning outcomes for my students. Interactive Whiteboards After about a year of flipping my class, I received a grant for a SmartBoard. I was excited to get it, not because I wanted a better presentation station, but rather because I wanted a place for

students to interact with digital content. I had it mounted on the side of the room and it quickly became ‘the’ place for students to work. They loved being able to discuss science and interact with online simulations together on the big board. Analogue Whiteboards One observation from visiting flipped classrooms across the world is that there is never too much whiteboard space. Students love to interact with markers and whiteboards. Since a flipped class is by definition an active place, then have as many whiteboards as possible. Schools may even want to invest in whiteboard paint and make entire walls into marker space. Purchase Collaborative Furniture As flipped classrooms expand to more and more teachers, it is likely time to rethink standard school furniture. The purpose of the furniture in a typical school is for students to sit and take notes. It is not often designed for collaboration and exploration. Most educational furniture manufacturers now offer furniture which allows for greater interaction and collaboration. These are a worthwhile investment. However, let me tell one story of caution. A few years ago, I visited a major university which had bought the latest in collaborative furniture for their classes. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this upgrade. However, as I visited the classrooms, virtually every professor had put the furniture in nice neat rows so that they could teach in the traditional manner. What the school had not done was help their professors make the mindset shift to active learning. This is really the most important step in scaling flipped learning which I will address at the end of this series. Buying furniture will not help unless the mindset change has happened first. Provide Quiet Spaces in a Noisy Room Flipped classes are busy places and the volume of the room is typically higher than a standard classroom. For some students, this can be over stimulating. Many introverted students and students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) might need to have quiet places to ponder, think and process. Ideally, a room could have a glassed-in quiet space for students to work. However, EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS 057

teachingtools

this is usually very cost prohibitive. A less expensive alternative is to purchase noisecancelling headphones to give students a quiet space in noisy classrooms. Student Buy-In Many teachers make the assumption that all students will embrace flipped learning quickly. Many do, but some struggle with this new approach to learning. Since flipped classrooms are active places of learning, those who would rather learn passively will struggle. Some students are comfortable with the way school has traditionally operated. School can be a ‘game’, with rules and rewards. Some have learned how to ‘play school’, and do not like it when the rules change. How do teachers help students to embrace flipped learning? The good news is that students are the easiest group to convince. The vast majority would rather be in a flipped classroom than a passive class. In a previous post, I shared survey data of students in flipped classes from around the world. Of the 2,400 students who participated, most indicated that they would rather be in a flipped class. Have Effective Flipped Classroom Teachers When a student has a bad experience in a flipped classroom, they often blame the model and say something like, “Flipped Classrooms do not work for me.” I was recently registering my daughter for college and we ran into her childhood soccer coach, his wife and daughter. His daughter was in a flipped math classroom in her school and had a bad experience. As we discussed her experience, I learned how poorly her teacher had implemented the model. The teacher simply sent home videos and expected kids to learn on their own. In class, she offered little help and students struggled. It is critical that students experience a great flipped class. Then their buy-in will be easy. Share with Students the Benefits of Flipped Learning This past year I worked with a school in Australia that wanted to scale flipped learning. Typically, when I first work with a school, I spend about an hour convincing

Many teachers make the assumption that all students will embrace flipped learning quickly. Many do, but some struggle with this new approach to learning. teachers why flipping the class should be implemented. Since this school was systematically implementing flipped learning, they chose to have approximately 40 student leaders sitting in on the session. The president of the student body did some research on flipped learning and me, and she gave a 10-minute introduction where she explained the benefits of flipped classrooms to the staff and her peers. After the session, the students went back to class and then the rest of the day I spent teaching teachers. Later, I debriefed with the school principal and her team, and she told me that there was a significant buzz in the student population. Student leaders were excited about the model and they were sharing it with the rest of the student body. Though you may not be able to have me come and speak at your school, I suggest that you make flipped learning a big deal. Celebrate it, embrace it and share with students why flipped learning makes sense. Raising student awareness often leads to students ‘pressuring’ their teachers to flip well and sometimes pushes reluctant teachers to begin flipping. What Benefits Should Teachers Share? Students should know why teachers are making such a big deal about flipped learning. A few points they may want to share are: • Teachers will have more time to help students since they are not lecturing anymore. • Teachers will know students better than ever before. • Students will be able to pause and rewind their teacher. • To some extent, students will be able to learn at their own pace. • Students will be in a more active classroom. • Typically, student achievement goes up. • More and more universities are moving to the model, and it represents the future of education.

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What Expectations Should Teachers Share? While teachers are sharing the benefits with their students, it is also important to share how a flipped classroom will expect more of them. • In a flipped classroom, students have to come to class even better prepared. • Since a flipped classroom is by definition active, students must be engaged in their learning during class. • Students must ask questions and be self- advocates. • Flipped classrooms get better when there is honest feedback. Students should be encouraged to help teachers contextualise the model for the school. They can give feedback on in-class activities, technology access and other aspects which might need to be tweaked as the program is rolled out. Keep it Simple Flipped learning is a simple idea with profound implications for learning. Thus, I would not overthink getting student buy-in. Flip well, explain well, expect much, and students will jump on board. I would love to hear from flipped class teachers. What have you done to get students to buy into your flipped class? ETS

Jon Bergmann is one of the pioneers of the Flipped Class Movement. Jon is leading the worldwide adoption of flipped learning by working with governments, schools, corporations and education non-profits. He is the author of seven books, including the bestselling book Flip Your Classroom, which has been translated into 10 languages. He is the founder of the global FlipCon conferences, which are dynamic engaging events that inspire educators to transform their practice through flipped learning.

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Personal Learning Environments

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getconnected | By James Jenkins | As I look towards the new school year, one of the trends that I see becoming more apparent is student use of personal learning environments (PLEs). Essentially, a PLE is the collection of go to tools that learners can access to help them with whatever task they are working on as part of their learning. It may not receive the same air time in education technology circles as virtual reality or 3D printing, but a well-designed PLE has the potential to improve the workflow, effectiveness and academic results of all students. I first started considering the importance of this idea a few years ago. Back in 2010, I was given some grant money by Independent Schools Queensland to run a project that looked at how effective the iPod touch was as a device to aid learning in middle years science. I had a class of 25 students and gave each of them an iPod to use both in class and at home for the year. After a fair bit of research, I came up with a list of about 20 apps that I wanted the students to use on their devices throughout the year. As well as these apps, I told them that they could download any other apps that they thought would be useful in their learning. After a few weeks, there was a huge variety of applications that students had chosen to use on top of the ones that I had recommended. I had listed a particular app for studying the periodic table. Between the students in the class, they had downloaded six or seven different versions, all convinced that their version was superior for one reason or another. I did not mind â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they all had the same information that I needed them to access for the year 9 chemistry unit. The differences were in the colour, the detail, the use of images, the linking to further information and so on. Multiply this by the variety of apps across the other concepts that we were studying as well as more general tools like calculators, organisers, stop watches and notepads and I had a class set of devices that had become very

personal to the learning style and workflow of each user. Fast forward to 2017 and the possibilities for PLEs are much broader. Easily accessible content has changed the dynamic in many classrooms. Students can look up facts in seconds and are becoming very good at doing so. The focus has in many cases shifted to tasks of inquiry, analysis and evaluation of information. Students are asked to interact with concepts in a variety of ways that are now possible due to the technology that they have at their fingertips. How successful students are in terms of this interaction with information often correlates to how well they will understand the underlying concepts. This is where an effective PLE can be so valuable. For example, a student is working on a research assignment. As he is visiting a large number of websites, he might choose to use a bookmarking tool such as Diigo, which uses tags to help him efficiently retrieve particular pieces of information. He might use the audio recorder on his phone or tablet to quickly record ideas that come to him throughout the day. He might use OneNote Learning Tools to read his assignment back to himself to make sure that he has used correct grammar and the paragraphs flow. A student that is revising for a test might use a particular app to help him create flash cards, or use a concept mapping tool like Bubbl.us to help him piece parts of a concept together. Depending on the task, students may use a large variety of tools as part of their PLE. Having their own system and a stock of tools that work for them will make their PLE successful. As well as teaching my own chemistry classes, I am fortunate to be able to visit a wide variety of other classes in my school as part of my role as Director of Digital Pedagogy. Many of the better students have managed (often without realising it) to develop PLEs that suit the way that they work. Many students that are not so successful have not really invested much time into developing a PLE.

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Essentially, a PLE is the collection of go to tools that learners can access to help them with whatever task they are working on as part of their learning.

Teachers do have a role in encouraging the use of PLEs though. It is more important that a student develops a system than uses any particular tool.

A couple of months ago, a student was showing me the YouTube channels that she subscribes to. There were the various music and reality TV channels, but she also subscribed to a variety of science and humanities channels that she said had helped her understanding of the subjects that she was studying. Her YouTube subscriptions formed part of her PLE. One of the challenges from a teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s point of view is that a PLE is personalised. The collection of tools that work best for one student might not be suited at all to another student. This means that it can be quite difficult for a teacher to provide the most useful set of tools to the students that they teach. Teachers do have a role in encouraging the use of PLEs though. It is more important that a student develops a system than uses any particular tool. They may be using a great image editing tool now that suits all of their image editing needs. Next week, however, they may come across something even more efficient and the old tool is replaced. Knowing that they need to use that type of tool for a particular purpose and knowing that they have one in their tool box is what is important.

In many schools, teachers guide students by providing them with particular tools by default. This may be because they are a one-to-one that supplies all students with a particular device. The software and apps on that device are easily accessible and will often be used. A bring your own device (BYOD) school will have a greater variety in terms of the hardware and potentially allow students to bring devices that are more suited to their learning. (There are a variety of reasons why this does not always happen.) Schools that are using Office 365 or G Suite for Education are providing easily accessible tools for a variety of uses. Students in maths classes at our school were very impressed with the amount of time that they saved this year by using Office 365 Forms for data collection. Many will use this for future assignments when they need to collect primary data. Forms has now become a valuable tool in their PLEs. The Learning Management System that schools choose will also provide default tools for a variety of tasks. Students will use this for accessing class content, out-of-class discussions, group collaborations and more.

These tools will be common in the PLEs of students across the school. The number and type of tools that a student might need in their PLE is dependent on many factors, such as age, subjects studied and preferred learning styles. Teachers can get their students thinking about the way that they learn and the types of tools that will help them in their learning. Teachers should encourage students to collect a set of tools and become efficient at using them. They will continually update their PLE to suit where they are on their learning journey, but becoming effective at using their tools will give them a better chance of achieving the skills that will be needed to be successful at school and beyond. ETS

James Jenkins is the Co-ordinator of Digital Pedagogy at Canterbury College in Brisbane.

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TECH STUFF

066 PRODUCTS ASUS Chromebook C202 Circuit Scribe littleBits Parallels Toolbox 1.5 Makeblock Starter Robot Kit My.IG3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The IG3 Education Portal SMART kapp iQ AstralVision Kindy Solution

072 NOTICEBOARDS Edval Timetables Black Box FlipCon 2017 Everyone can lead in a Digital School CarryOn by PC Locs

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showcases ASUS Chromebook C202 The ASUS Chromebook C202 is billed as being “the ideal education computer for every school IT manager, student and teacher”. That is a big call, so upon receiving the C202 Chromebook from ASUS, we decided we needed to give it a thorough inspection. First off, we really liked the build quality. ASUS claim their Chromebook C202 was developed to withstand the daily rigours and intense usage of the device by students both inside and outside of the classroom. This is evident from the robust and reinforced rubberwrapped protective guard which surrounds the external edges of the machine and wraps over the most vulnerable areas of the top and bottom casing. This rubberised wrap is designed to reduce the impact from any accidents. In fact, ASUS claim that they have conducted drop tests from a drop height of 1.2m to ensure function without disruption, along with extreme twist force and high-pressure testing to ensure that it can withstand the physical stress when used frequently over long periods of time. As a Mac user, it is tempting to drop, kick and bend the C202 (just kidding), but we did not, so we will have to take the company’s reassurance at face value on this point – but it does appear to be extremely sturdy. Beyond its rugged construction, we also really liked the fact that one of the key design elements for the ASUS Chromebook C202 was that it had been deliberately designed to be extremely easy to maintain. IT staff and even savvy students can remove and or replace key components like the keyboard, thermal module, battery and motherboard in four hassle-free steps without having to remove other parts, which is a really handy feature for reducing costs and extending the lifecycle of the machine while reducing downtime. The spill-proof keyboard is also a great touch. As we know, students are not the most conscientious or careful users of technology, but we should point out that the keyboard is only ‘spill’ proof (66cc of liquid), not waterproof as in “I just tipped my entire cup of coffee on the keyboard” or “ I just dropped my Chromebook in the toilet”. While on the subject of the keyboard, ASUS have re-engineered the C202 keyboard, reducing the key travel distance from 3mm to 2mm and making the keys 15 percent larger. A reduction of 1mm in travel distance might not seem like much, but when combined with the larger printed keys, one does notice a distinct improvement in typing accuracy and feel. These changes in design tend to make what is ultimately a small computer feel like a full-sized laptop. The inclusion of features like an anti-glare screen and a large internal Wi-Fi antenna that wraps around the entire circumference of the screen for improved reception also make this a very comfortable and reliable machine to use, but the biggest plus with this new machine is the improved battery, which gives students up to 10 hours of life off a single charge. This means students can get through an entire day at school without having to sacrifice on the brightness or Wi-Fi reception and so on. Featuring an Intel Celeron Dual-Core N3060 Processor, 1.6 GHz (2M cache, up to 2.48GHz) and a choice of either 2GB or 4GB of onboard memory, a 11.6” 16:9 HD (1366x768) anti-glare display, 16GB storage, a 3-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC), HD web camera, built-in Bluetooth V4.0, along with a COMBO audio jack, 2 USB 3.0 port(s) and an HDMI out port, this little machine really does have everything a student might need in a well thought-out and designed package. Visit www.asus.com/au for more information.

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Unless otherwise expressly stated, the review of the product or products appearing in this section represent the opinions of the Editor or relevant editorial staff member assigned to this publication and do not represent the views or opinions of Interactive Media Solutions or the advertisers or other contributors to this publication.

Circuit Scribe Let your students’ creativity merge with science as they build exciting circuits using Circuit Scribe conductive ink pen, magnetic modules and plain old printer paper. By placing the paper over a steel sheet, included in every kit, the paper becomes the base for blinking lights, beeping buzzers and whirling motors. Kits and bundles include everything a student needs in one convenient package and are suitable for ages five and over. The water-based, non-toxic conductive ink allows students to see how the circuit works and adds a whole art dimension to a project. It is as simple as doodling on a piece of paper then connecting magnetic components that snap right into a circuit. No glue or soldering is required. Circuit Scribe makes learning electronics fun and revolutionises how kids are taught electronics in schools. It is about learning through creating. Circuit Scribe have a selection of kits and bundles on offer, ranging from basic to advanced. Students can also use Circuit Scribe with Arduino, Makey Makey and many other electronic platforms. Together, these products have

students to explore all the concepts that the basic kit presents,

broad applications in the Science, Technology, Engineering

while building an understanding of inputs, outputs and signal

and Mathematics (STEM) education and do-it-yourself (DIY)

processing in circuits. Additional topics to explore include light

communities.

sensing, timed circuits, piezoelectric materials and more.

Maker Kit

Visit www.iworldonline.com.au for more information.

An introduction to more advanced concepts, the Maker Kit contains a pen, 11 modules, a 9V battery and other accessories to take your students’ circuit sketches to the next level. This kit allows

littleBits littleBits makes technology kits that are fun, easy to use and infinitely creative. The kits are composed of electronic building

STEAM Student Kit

blocks that are colour-coded, magnetic and make complex

The littleBits STEAM Student Set is the easiest way to integrate

technology simple and fun. Together, they are interchangeable in

powerful STEM/STEAM learning into the classroom. Designed with

millions of different ways to empower kids to invent anything – from

educators, the toolbox engages students in learning through

a sibling alarm to a wireless robot, to a digital instrument.

creating inventions. The kit includes:

littleBits has been created to be used by everyone, regardless of

• eight invention challenges with bits and accessories, detailed

age. Since people pick up technology at different paces, littleBits

is designed so everyone can learn at their own speed. That is why it

• 72-page student invention guide for group, educator-led or self-

instructions and companion lessons

is used at every level of education, from primary school all the way

up to university and beyond.

• 100+ page online teacher’s guide with lessons and tips

guided learning

• printable invention logs to guide students’ documentation and Powerful STEAM Learning. Simplified.

reflection

Inspire your students to create solutions to real-world problems with

• hundreds of lessons and challenges at littlebits.cc/student-set

littleBits and powerful STEAM/STEM learning. littleBits is extremely

easy to teach due to the fact that the colour-coded electronic bits

• 19 bits, including two power, five input, eight output, four wire

snap together with magnets for foolproof inventing.

Furthermore, the invention-based learning approach behind littleBits empowers students to engineer real-world solutions through

and on the littleBits app and 47 accessories. Ideally suited to students aged eight and over, littleBits kits are a

great addition to any classroom.

invention. You can even add art to kick-start a student’s creativity and develop creative confidence.

Visit www.iworldonline.com.au for more information.

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showcases Parallels Toolbox 1.5 Even in the year 2017, students and educators are still plagued by badly written software that promises to execute simple tasks like capture screen recordings or convert video formats, yet offer nothing but complicated user experiences with a few viruses potentially thrown in the mix. Parallels aims to solve this problem with Parallels Toolbox, a suite of 25 easy-to-use software tools designed to simplify essential everyday tasks. With just a snap of your finger, Parallels Toolbox executes a myriad of commands without hassle – such as capturing a video of your screen, quickly archiving files to save storage space, or preventing your Mac from going to sleep while you work on a big important presentation deck. Parallels has recently released version 1.5 of Parallels Toolbox, adding several refinements and enhancements to the already stellar stable of tools. For example, it is now faster and easier for users to get to any one of their favourite tools simply by dragging their icons to the desktop, to the dock, to the Mac menu bar, or to a new ‘Favorite Tools’ area in the toolbox menu. Parallels has also added the option to capture system audio (that is, audio generated by the Mac or a Mac app) to its popular ‘Record Screen’ tools. This will be a great little feature addition for students and educators who frequently produce tutorial videos or lecture webcasts. Best of all, Parallels Toolbox 1.5 is extremely affordable. It is a free update for existing Parallels Toolbox subscribers and US$9.99 per year for new users – less than the price of a fancy cup of coffee. This means students and educators can tap on all 25 existing tools to immediately jump-start their productivity in the new year and enjoy all future updates without breaking the bank. Visit www.parallels.com/toolbox for more information.

Makeblock Starter Robot Kit Makeblock Starter Robot Kit, as its name shows, is the perfect do-ityourself kit to test the waters of the robotics and the maker world, with a set of beginner-friendly instructions that guide you step-bystep through learning robotics, electronics and programming. The Makeblock Starter Robot Kit is an excellent choice for beginners to learn skills such as electronics, graphic programming and coding. The kits have also been designed for easy wiring,

Arduino board, this kit will teach students all about programming a

meaning that no soldering is required.

micro-controller board to control physical objects using sensors.

Once completed, students can control their robot with their

Students can follow the detailed, beginner-friendly instructions to

smart device wirelessly via Bluetooth. Kits also feature a range

construct their choice of either a robot tank or three-wheel robot

of heavy-duty mechanical parts and easy-to-use electronic

car.

modules like Me Orion, ultrasonic sensors and an infrared receiver (Bluetooth module) to ensure students get an enhanced, hands-on

Call Maximise Technology on1300 769 374, email hello@

experience when building their robot.

maximisetechnology.com.au or visit https://www.

Learning programming is also a lot more fun and engaging when students can see how their code controls a robot. Based around an

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maximisetechnology.com.au/shop/educational/makeblock-starterrobot-kit/ for more information.

My.IG3 – The IG3 Education Portal IG3 Education Ltd, previously known as Eduss Asia Pacific Ltd, is

IG3 Education’s

an education solutions provider established in Australia in January

software products now

2001. Providing K-12 educational and interactive technology

accessible via the

solutions, teacher training and customer support services, IG3

My.IG3 portal include:

Education has a proven track record in Australia, New Zealand,

• The Language Market

Southern Africa and Malaysia. In fact, almost 75 percent of

• Chinese

Australian schools use IG3 Education’s education solutions and

• Japanese

products, along with 14,000 additional home users. IG3 Education’s

• Indonesian

Language Market software is used in over 4,500 Australian schools

• Italian

and the new HTML 5 version of its Chinese and Italian software is

• German

used on Education Services Australia (ESA) Language Learning

• French

portal. The Learning A-Z products are now used in over 3,300

• IG3 Maths (an improved version of the Eduss XiTeach Maths

Australian schools and ReadMe in over 2,000 Australian schools.

product)

IG3 Education’s software products can now be accessed and

• IG3 English (an improved version of the Eduss XiTeach English

managed 24/7 via the My.IG3 portal, a single sign-on website,

allowing access to multiple products through a single unique

• ReadMe Literacy

and Phonics products)

username and password. Teachers can view progress, add students

• Learning A-Z

to their classes, assign tasks and so on via a secure administration

• Headsprout

tool and students will only see and have access to the products for

• Raz-Kids

which they are enrolled. The My.IG3 App, available in the Apple

• Reading A-Z

store and through Google Play, allows access to the majority of the

• Science A-Z

IG3 products included in the portal via Apple iPads and iPhones,

• ReadyTest A-Z

as well as Android devices and smartphones. With the majority

• Vocabulary A-Z

of IG3’s education software products converted to HTML, the

• Writing A-Z

products are platform independent and operable on the majority of hardware platforms used across Australian schools.

Visit www.my.ig3education.com.au to register for a free 7-day trial.

SMART kapp iQ SMART kapp iQ is the SMART flagship interactive touch panel built from the ground up for schools. It consists of an interactive display, whiteboard and a suite of education software, all run from an embedded computer. Designed specifically to complement individual, small group and whole-class instruction, the display fully integrates with student devices, including tablets, smartphones,

lab and SMART amp (both part of the SMART Learning Suite) and a

laptops and Chromebooks. It is your all-in-one classroom solution.

built-in web browser.

Regardless of your comfort level with technology or the tools you

Users can also connect to the whiteboard with the SMART kapp

use in the classroom, SMART kapp iQ promises a quick and easy

app (free) and save any notes on the screen for later. Share the

way to enrich any learning experience. Plus, there is no need for an

screen with students from the app, so they can follow along in real

external computer. Teachers have one-touch access to a range of

time on their devices, as well as contribute to the whiteboard from

applications, tools and features, including:

them. Saved snapshots can be uploaded back to the display at

• a digital whiteboard (with panoramic functionality)

any time.

• a built-in web-browser

The SMART Learning Suite, made up of four applications, is

• access to SMART amp, SMART lab* and SMART Notebook* files

included as part of the package. The SMART Learning Suite includes

• wireless screen sharing*

SMART Notebook to enable lesson delivery, SMART response 2 for

• guest computer access.

formative assessment, SMART amp for student collaboration and

(*Some features will only be fully functional with automatic software updates in 2017)

SMART lab for game-based learning.

Using the interactive display, teachers can open SMART Notebook lessons they have created and run them from the display

Contact SMART AUSTRALIA via email at enquiriessmartanz@smarttech.

without connecting a laptop. Plus, users have access to SMART

com or call 1300 165 312 for more information.

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showcases AstralVision Kindy Solution AstralVision has brought a new offering to their classroom interactive product line with the introduction of the AVSK55 Kindy Solution. The AstralVision Kindy Solution is designed specifically for use within the Kindergarten and Pre-School environment. An AstralVision 55â&#x20AC;? interactive touchscreen is mounted securely to a low set trolley for stability and positioned at a height well suited for young learners. The trolley comes in a natural beech wood finish and offers six storage shelves and a foldaway laptop shelf. Castors on the base of the trolley not only provide the flexibility to move the trolley to different areas of the room, but can also be locked to keep it stable in a kindergarten environment. A 1200 x 900 magnetic whiteboard is also secured to the back of the trolley to provide extra flexibility and workspace. The AstralVision Kindy Solution provides teachers with a fully interactive learning setup, as well as the flexibility of touch control of their PC when connected to the display. The Kindy Solution also includes two interactive software programs; Snowflake MultiTeach and Perceptual Skills. The interactivity provides users with the ability to use gestures and other multi-touch functions similar to those used on popular handheld devices such as iPhone, iPad and other smartphone and tablet brands, which is something that many younger school learners are already comfortable with. Snowflake MultiTeach is a fun, award winning edutainment suite of software apps for touchscreens that can be used by teachers and pupils in early learning and K - 12 education classrooms. Children have short attention spans. Snowflake MultiTeach solves that problem by making education more fun, engaging and memorable, resulting in exciting interactive classroom experiences that increase the performance of pupils and teachers. In addition to the 30+ off the shelf apps with pre-set content, busy teachers can easily and quickly create curriculum-specific touchscreen lessons with custom content using the lessons app. The Perceptual Skills software included with AstralVision Kindy Solution is specifically designed and developed to stimulate children in a playful and creative way. This perceptual program consists of sub-sections, each of which develop a specific learning skill. Each activity consists of different difficulty levels, providing children with the opportunity to progress at their own pace according to individual abilities. Visual and auditory guidance and rewards make this program very child friendly. It motivates young learners to master the skills that they lack or struggle with by playing around with different characters in a sea full of adventure and games. For more information contact A Brighter Image on 02 9938 6866, email info@abimage.com.au or search www.abimage.com.au

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Edval Timetables

Edval Timetables has been providing timetabling software, support and services to schools across all states and territories in Australia, as well as Ireland, UK and Asia, for 20 years. Over 750 schools and hundreds of thousands of students rely on Edval Timetables every day. Our products originated from a research project at Sydney University and we now have a team of 34 passionate and committed professionals serving our clients. We listen to our clients and create innovative software based on their needs and requirements. Premium Timetabling Software The technology behind Edval Timetables, using advanced and complex algorithms coupled with complex business logic, allows users to specify precisely what they need within their school and provides optimal, automatic solutions based on their input. Edval Timetables solution quality is unsurpassed and our service is unparalleled; we regularly satisfy the requirements of schools who have been told they have requirements too complex for other systems. Through years of consultation and working in partnership with hundreds of schools, our software is packed with features that make a difference to a school’s operation in the areas of cost effectiveness, student elective choices and outcomes, efficient use of resources, staff satisfaction and more. Our unique support of ‘optimising costs’ as a core business function means schools find Edval to be a cost-negative solution, providing financial benefits that consistently exceed licensing costs.

School Daily Organisation EdvalDaily is an additional module that works hand-in-hand with our timetabling module. EdvalDaily manages all the day-to-day variations of a school, for example, covering absent staff, managing excursions, exam scheduling, room swaps, statistical reports and much more.

Simply the best support team We take great pride in our customer service. In addition to telephone and email support, Edval’s comprehensive online support portal includes: video tutorials, FAQs and solutions, ticket submission, online training resources, telephone and email support and web conferencing

Online Subject Selection WebChoice is our online student portal designed for subject selection, prefect voting, sport choices and more. It is cost effective, easy to setup and flexible. Users can validate choices, setup co-requisite courses, and email student access details and results.

Consultancy (Construction and TiR) Edval consultants are highly skilled and have a wealth of experience gained from working with a wide variety of schools. In addition to support and timetable construction, we provide consultancy services to schools on a range of timetable-related enquiries.

Parent Teacher Scheduling EdvalPTN is our priority-based, batch algorithm-generated schedules that are fair for everyone. We can solve the common problems of parent and teacher time waste, congestion and queues. Parent engagement is critical to students’ schooling lives and parent teacher nights are crucial for connecting parents with teachers on a human and personal level. Engagement suffers if events are poorly run and managed. Our system boosts parent involvement at events overall – it is just so easy!

Timetabler-in-Residence (TiR) This service is an Edval consultant who works with a school throughout the year to build and maintain the timetable file. The benefits to the school are: • no need to train users • fair and equitable timetable construction from an impartial and objective viewpoint • a responsive and dedicated resource backed by the Edval team • depth of experience, knowledge and skill giving a better quality end result.

Accredited Training We provide accredited training for all our modules, delivered by trainers with in-depth knowledge of timetabling. We also provide clients with access to our comprehensive online support portal, which includes video tutorials, training resources, FAQs and knowledge base. In addition, our professional team of consultants provides prompt service via live chat, telephone and email.

We strongly believe our products are the best available to meet the current and future needs of K-12 schools, students and staff. Our retention rate of over 99 percent bears out our conviction. Why not contact us for a demonstration and see for yourself.

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Visit www.edval.com.au or email sales@edval.education for more information.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, the information appearing in this section represents the opinions of the relevant advertiser and does not represent the views or opinions of Interactive Media Solutions or the other advertisers or contributors to this publication.

Brighton Secondary College deploys Black Box’s award winning digital signage solution across the campus to communicate with students and visitors alike.

Established in 1955 under the leadership of Principal G M Stirling, Brighton Secondary College has developed a rich heritage in the past 59 years. The school caters to over 1200 students as they continue to perform well academically in many disciplines and make valuable contributions to community life and work after their school years. Cameron Scholten, IT Manager at Brighton SC, began investigating the most effective means to inform students and parents of the school, the school knew they needed a reliable, user-friendly display technology across the school campus. Brighton SC selected Black Box to implement and manage an end-toend digital signage solution to support their teachers, students and visitors. About the Project With the opening of the new wing that comprised of the innovative Year 9 Discovery Centre, opened in 2006, new VCE and Pathways Centre opened in 2010, and a new State-of-the-Art Science, Arts and Technology wing in 2013, Brighton SC acknowledges the individual needs of students and the emerging technologies of the digital age. A new approach was required and

Digital Signage was identified as the preferred communications method because of its visual and engaging appeal to young people. The school previously had an old digital signage system; it had reached its end of life. They required a new bespoke digital signage solution to enable the presentation of all kinds of relevant information in different layouts via a variety of media. The school wanted an easy-to-use web interface so administration staff can manage and upload content at any time. The iCOMPEL™ digital signage solution comprised of one publisher and eight screens installed in common open areas including the VCE building, student lockers, new school building, and canteen where students have the chance to see the information several times throughout the day. By understanding the content strategy, Black Box identified the right system to integrate with the schools existing infrastructure. A customised, flexible and scalable digital signage solution was installed. Solution The school utilised a point-tomultipoint configuration to duplicate the same content to multiple displays. Black Box MediaCento product was used to transfer AV over IP Signals to all the screens on the existing network, thus saving thousands of dollars on infrastructure changes. Content transmitted over Cat 5e cable to other locations on the school campus, enabled audio and video material to be displayed on multiple remote screens in real time. A multi-

zone screen layout was created where each zone can be managed individually and the content can be dynamically changed as required. Result Black Box provided a demonstration, followed by evaluation and product training as part of this project. Since there were no changes made to the existing infrastructure, the installation was completed in a short time. The preinstalled layouts helped the school to create eye catching professional layouts quickly whilst minimising repetitive tasks. Also, free software updates and no ongoing subscription or licensing fees has helped the school to lower its cost of ownership. “Using iCOMPEL, we have been able to create and customise the layout with fresh, exciting and professional looking content. Due to the variety of elements used to populate the board, now multiple users can easily have access to edit certain parts of the canvas at any time. It’s a huge step forward from the previous digital signage solution, as only one user was able to upload all the information. The Black Box team was very knowledgeable and were very helpful in providing us with the right solution.” – Cameron Scholten, IT Manager/Senior Engineer of Brighton Secondary College.

For more information contact: Black Box Network Services Australia Office: 1300 734 455 Email: sales.au@blackbox.com Website: www.blackbox.com/en-au

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New Global Program to Protect Flipped Learning from Bad Technology Choices Flipped Learning Global Initiative offers education technology support to educators worldwide

The Flipped Learning Global Initiative (FLGI), a worldwide coalition of educators, researchers, technologists, professional development providers and education leaders recently announced the first pillar of a new program created to help Flipped Learning teachers, administrators, and IT staff make sound technology choices. The program begins with education, and launched with a free training course called, How to Avoid the 17 Deadly Sins of Flipped Learning Technology Selection. The course covers the vital considerations that should be part of making any technology purchase for flipped learning. Whether the school is in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Australia, Spain, India, Argentina or Dubai, the program is relevant and essential. The free online course is available to the worldwide flipped learning community at http:// learn.FLGlobal.org and covers a pivotal checklist including: • Initial Cost • Infrastructure Requirements • Customisation Cost • Technology Compatibility and Integration • Scaleability • Learning Curve • Training Options • Student Safety • Hidden Cost

• Cultural Compatibility • Technology Life Cycle and Obsolescence • Switching Cost. The course is based on the best insights drawn from FLGI’s global cohort of flipped learning researchers, flipped master teachers and flipped learning technologists. The 19-unit condensed course is the critical first piece of a larger initiative set to launch at the end of January. “Nothing can kill a flipped learning program more quickly than the selection of expensive, complex technology that is poorly suited to flipped learning. The education technology graveyards are littered with the remains of tools, programs, and gizmos that teachers couldn’t or wouldn’t use,” said Jon Bergmann, one of the pioneers of the flipped learning movement. “I’ve seen too many Flipped Learning efforts fail because of massively misguided technology choices.” There are two great opportunities to meet Jon Bergmann in 2017 and discuss technology options with him: • FlipCon Australia, Friday 20 and Saturday 21 October – Inaburra School, Sydney • FlipCon NZ, Friday 23 and Saturday 24 June – Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, Wellington

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Find out more about these two conferences where Jon will be a keynote speaker: • @ereg.me/flipconaus • @ereg.me/flipconnz

For further information about FlipCon Australia 2017 go to: www.ereg.me/FlipConAUS17

Everyone can lead in a Digital School It is not easy to successfully lead a digital school. What does it take? Is it best to follow a leadership model that focuses on leadership from the top, or, are synergistic team leadership models, or grassroots leadership models better alternatives in many situations? In 2017 the Leading a Digital School Conference will focus on the different forms leadership can take when a school strives to become a leading digital school. Leadership from the top In the first keynote address of the conference, a leadership group from Ormiston College, Queensland explores how to best restructure school-wide initiatives to effectively lead improvement, innovation and change in digital schools. Leadership makes a difference. This inspiring session will suggest strategies to break down silos in schools in order to create an innovative culture, and improve student, teacher and community outcomes. Drawing on the initiatives the College has implemented, participants will also hear about practical techniques and strategies for developing, and sustaining innovations in their schools. Synergistic team leadership In an ever-changing world, schools are required to be dynamic, energetic, and thriving communities if they wish to provide the best possible education for students today and for their evolving futures. But what are the necessary conditions required, so that a culture of innovation and positive school advancement flourishes? The keynote address on the second day of the conference argues that synergistic team leadership is required to bring together a school community, by examining the critical

and interconnected roles of the school principal, leadership team and classroom teachers. In this model of leadership, two leaders from two different schools in Victoria, explain how all stakeholders are required to work together in order to develop a positive school culture; maximising the human, physical and financial capital along the way. By finding and recognising our appetite to relentlessly learn, unlearn and teach in ‘beta’, school professionals can make positive advancements in education. Together, all stakeholders are required to be leaders and champions of change in our schools. Each of us has a critical role in this process, and we are all equally responsible for it. Grassroots leadership What can a team of classroom teachers driving a school’s digital agenda achieve? In the keynote address on the third day of the conference a highly skilled team of practitioners from St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, Western Australia describe their disruptive journey with digital and design learning clearly demonstrating the innovative use of digital technologies to deliver scalable trans disciplinary opportunities for computational and design thinking in both primary and secondary schools. Each of these inspirational classroom teachers lead with their own signature strengths and also contribute as a team to learning across year levels teaming up to directly link project-based learning to the engineering cyclical design process. A very special feature – Jukes and Mohan Program This three-day program is included within the Leading a Digital School

Conference and will provide a very attractive choice for many delegates. Three workshops (Leadershift: Renewing Schools for Modern Times; Disruptive Innovation in Education; and Creating Significant Learning Environments) presented by Ian Jukes and Nicky Mohan have been developed in partnership with Lamar University (USA). Participants can choose to attend purely for professional development to enhance their own practice; or they can utilise attendance at this PD to begin the process of completing the course requirements for a Masters of Education. This model, which is a perfect fit for busy educators, has been carefully designed so that it seamlessly integrates into your daily practice. In addition to the three workshops presented by Ian and Nicky, delegates who select the Jukes and Mohan program will also attend the three team keynote addresses of the Leading a Digital School Conference outlined above, and choose three spotlight sessions from the main conference program. Why not come along? The Leading a Digital School Conference is about driving and growing the inspirational and sound educational use of digital technology in a school to give students a competitive advantage in a digital world. It appeals to school leaders, leadership teams and classroom teachers who lead. If you wish to learn more about what it takes to lead in a digital school in today’s challenging educational climate, why not attend the Leading a Digital School Conference to be held at the QT Hotel, Gold Coast on 17, 18 and 19 August 2017. For more information and to register go to: www.ereg.me/digital17

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CarryOn by PC Locs

Introducing the first ultra-mobile charging station – charge, store and carry up to five iPads or tablet devices. PC Locs has always offered a unique perspective to physically managing mobile devices. The CarryOn is no different, designed to be the most portable charging station on the market. It takes portability to the next level by allowing you to carry five devices, together with all the charging hardware and cables, in one neat and compact unit. Teaching, working and learning anywhere just got a lot easier.

The CarryOn is more than just a ‘pretty face’. The aluminium outer shell makes it both lightweight and durable, protecting the devices inside. The transparent acrylic door allows customers to quickly check that all the devices are there, while the impactresistant PCABS alloy edging gives it a neat and classy look. It is finished off with an aluminium handle to make it comfortable and easy to carry. At the heart of the CarryOn lies an intelligent USB charger that is both powerful and efficient. With 2.4 amps of power at each port, it can charge five devices simultaneously and boasts

Level VI efficiency. The CarryOn plugs into mains power via the cable at the back and wraps around the cable cleat when you are carrying it around, keeping it neat and tidy. Designed to store 7–10” tablets and accommodate devices with a variety of cases, the CarryOn’s acrylic door includes a keyed lock to keep devices safe. As for storing the CarryOn itself, a wall mount kit is included in the package. All this comes with a lifetime warranty for added peace of mind. Visit www.pclocs.com.au or call 1300 725 627 for more information.

S30 Notebook Trolley handy storage bin

ergonomically designed

available in 5 colours

easy to see charge status

loads of venting

designed to accommodate and charge 16 devices large shelves to suit even the largest laptops

VIC NSW

P (03) 9801 1044 P (02) 9749 1922

F (03) 9801 1176 F (02) 9749 1987

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secured with multipoint locking doors

E sales@mfb.com.au E sydney@mfb.com.au

breakaway mains connection

large 360 locking castors

Parallels Desktop for Mac

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WE UNDERSTAND EDUCATION

sales@compnow.com.au 1300 COMPNOW VIC | NSW | SA | QLD