Edubeacon

It’s fascinating to read about the trial distribution of Kindle ebook readers to school age children in Ghana.  The non-profit organisation at the centre of the project, Worldreader, was co-founded by David Risher, a former Amazon senior vice president.  We’ve seen how mobile phones and Nicholas Negroponte’s  one-laptop-per-child project have changed the face of learning and connectivity [...]

Teacher Tap professional development resources for educators and librarians is a site that’s been around for a long time and is well worth a visit.  Organisation of the resources is orderly and accessible with menu headings: Tech & Learning Internet Resources Libraries and Literacy Tech Tools It’s the work of Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson [...]

Yesterday I attended the SLAV conference – Perspectives on Learning V2.  As the main presenter for the day, Will Richardson continued the message he delivered in 2008, encouraging educators to collaborate and communicate globally to build their personal learning networks and to develop an awareness of the changing nature of literacy both in ourselves and [...]

School’s back in full swing this week and with it the expectations being articulated to the fresh group of Year 12 students as they prepare for their final year while Year 7′s are just beginning the secondary journey.  Reading the Federal Government’s ‘consultation’ draft of the digital economy future directions paper one cannot help but [...]

Twenty-six days without a home broadband connection as part of the process of relocating from regional Mildura, Victoria to outer Metropolitan Melbourne, Chirnside Park, the big move (first in 33 years!), then Christmas and we’ve survived.  Broadband was finally reconnected yesterday and the last of our belongings have arrived today.   ‘Mafeking is relieved’ – an [...]

Finally, chess has hit the headlines.  Our students have been playing chess at lunchtimes for years and although it has it’s highs and lows, it’s always been there.  Now it’s being recognised for its value to the development of thinking skills.  See this article in USA Today -  Check Mate! Idaho tries chess to boost [...]

Take time to play the 2008 TED prize winner video and, as educators, you’ll find it absolutely inspirational. In his acceptance presentation, author Dave Eggers talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center  Once Upon a School.  His volunteer tutor centre in downtown Brooklyn which combines a Pirate Supply Store, publishing house and tutoring centre now has a register of 1400 [...]

It’s worth keeping an eye on the UK education scene.  This week a new literacy site has been launched offering classroom teachers innovative ideas and practical resources to get primary pupils and secondary students excited about writing.’  It’s supported by BookTrust and the National Literacy Trust who have come up with another practical program that [...]

IMSA (Illinois Maths & Science Academy) have produced a new website to assist the process of developing digital literacy. IMSA 21st Century Information Fluency Project has only been operating a few months and has already covered numerous topics relating to the use of Web 2.0 resources and the web in general. Register for full access [...]

What makes a great teacher? The recently reported study “In Teachers’ Hands” that sought to identify effective teaching practices leading to improved student literacy in the first two years is available online at In Teachers Hands. Registration is required but the value of the video clips is well worth the effort.