Professional Learning |

July 6, 2018
by rcrellin
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Using Google Apps in your classroom

Schools can provide students and staff with access to Google Apps for Education online services at no cost through the Department. Professional learning sessions for Term 3 have been announced to help you get the most out of the software.

‘Getting Started’ Workshops

A full day workshop is available to support school leaders and teachers just starting out, as well as those who have been driving their own learning with G Suite. Participants are introduced to the key apps in the suite, presenting a school focused approach in their use for administration, learning and teaching. The workshop will provide tips and tricks, while discussing a holistic set up for different learning environments and settings.

Sessions dates and locations

8 August – Castlemaine
15 August – Flemington
23 August – Corio
18 September – Flemington

Find out more and register for professional learning

Find out how to get Google Apps for your school

May 24, 2018
by rcrellin
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Meeting Additional Learning Needs in Your Classroom Using Technology

Windows 10 offers a range of functions to help students independently manage their own learning including:

Ability to edit text directly from a photograph or pdf.
Take photos of a whiteboard or other object to save as a word doc and edit.
An immersive reader that allow students to alter text to make it larger, change the background and spacing, identify nouns, verbs and adjectives.
Text to speech function in a range of languages, including an option for an Australian accent.
Easy to use speech to text function.
Scaled back internet browser (Edge) that removes distractions and allows students to annotate on the screen.
An increased range of options through Microsoft editor.

Microsoft are running a free professional learning session on 28 June for teachers to get hands on with some of these tools. At this session teachers will:

see how Windows 10 and Office 365 can transform their students’ educational experience and personalise learning
experience Learning Tools watch it improve reading comprehension
learn how students can demonstrate their understanding using inputs other than keyboarding and text and be equipped with productivity and collaborative tools, and skills they will use throughout their lives
navigate these tools and tailor them to their students’ individual learning needs.

“As a teacher, I am constantly on the hunt for technology and tools that give students with additional learning needs an environment that is personalised, differentiated and yet as close to their peers’ experience as possible… With Windows 10 and Office 365, I have been able to find and use many of the accommodations that I have been looking for making consumption of materials, content creation, collaboration and organisation possible for students using the same technology and tools as their peers.” – Robin Lowell, Special Education, Science and Mathematics teacher.

Regional STEM Education Conference 2018

The fourth annual Regional STEM Conference will be held in Wodonga on Monday June 25.

Early bird registrations now open

Presenters include:

Maria James, Curriculum Manager – Science, VCAA
Michelle Rayner, The Patch Primary School
Jackie Bondell, OzGrav
Jenny Ashby, Department of Education
Pauline Rogers, Essential Assessment
Dr Seamus Delaney, School of Education, Deakin University

Primary focused sessions include:

Rocketing into numbers and words
Level up story telling across the curriculum
Essential Assessment masterclass
STEM in the outdoors
Critical and creative thinking
Approaches to Integrated STEM – Mission to Mars
STEM learning through robotics and CAD

Secondary focused sessions include:

Introduction to the Wolfram Suite for STEM
Implementing the revised VCAL Numeracy curriculum
Taking it to the field – collecting primary GIS data in a digital age
The language of science: do you have the energy?
Developing scientific literacy – turning science articles into assessment tasks
The logbook & scientific poster in VCE sciences
Immersive science: using virtual reality and interactive apps to introduce space science

A more detailed preview is on the website with the full program to follow.

There are still some spaces in the program for sessions. If you would like to offer a session, or know someone else that might, please get in touch by reply email as soon as possible.

Other upcoming events

North East Region Design & Technologies Group Meet Up, May 31, 4pm
GIS for Schools, June 13, 2018 8:30am

More information is available via our website.

May 3, 2018
by rcrellin
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Personal Local Global Conference

Creative Problem Solving Conference

Friday 18th May, Harvester Technical College Sunshine

Great sessions for primary and secondary teachers with a focus on applied STEM learning, design thinking and practical upskilling in new technologies, including

Creative Digital Solutions ro Real World Engineering Problems
Solving Personal, Local & Global Problems in VCE PD&T
Teaching Coding, Electronics & Wearable Technologies
Unpicking Initiative – STEM in Textiles
Developing Practical D&T Sessions for Primary
The Benefits of Lasers in Education
Balloon Jousting – Rapid Prototyping Robots in the Classroom
Introduction to 3D Printing & Tinkercad
Leading STEM
Eco-printing our way to a More Sustainable Future

Find out more

April 19, 2018
by rcrellin
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DigiTech professional learning

Check out the range of sessions to support teachers with the Digital Technologies curriculum.

VCAA specialist teachers are delivering face-to-face and online sessions covering different aspects and levels of the Curriculm. Sessions are being held at: Burwood, Moe, Berwick, Ballarat, Hawthorn, Preston, Shepparton, Altona, Swan Hill. Find a session near you or register for a webinar

Digital Teaching and Learning Victoria (DLTV)

Developing the Digital Technologies Curriculum Webinar, 24 April 5:00 – 6:00pm
Object oriented programming for Y9-10 and VCE 22 May, Brunswick
Python for first time coding teachers, 10 August, Brunswick
DigiCon – 26-27 July, Fitzroy

CSER: DigiTech Champions Workshop – Secondary, 25 July Scienceworks

Code Club Teacher Training Bendigo – 03 May

Digital Technologies Hub professional learning webinars – various topics

Find out more about the Digital Technologies Curriculum

Download

November 29, 2017
by rcrellin
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A delightful way to teach coding

Linda Liukas is helping to educate problem-solving kids, encouraging them to see computers not as mechanical, boring and complicated but as colorful, expressive machines meant to be tinkered with. In this talk, she invites us to imagine a world where the Ada Lovelaces of tomorrow grow up to be optimistic and brave about technology and use it to create a new world that is wonderful, whimsical and a tiny bit weird.

Linda will be in Melbourne for a free workshop on December 8. She will explore the links between creativity and coding, and show how her fabulous Hello Ruby books can be used in the classroom. There may even be a chance to get your books signed!

Book now for this free event, co hosted by DLTV and the UNESCO Observatory of Arts Education, Melbourne Graduate School of Education. https://dltv.vic.edu.au/event-2720418

October 24, 2017
by rcrellin
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CSER DigiTech Sessions

Teachers have the opportunity to work with Dr Claudia Szabo a member of the CSER Digital Technologies Team on Monday 20 November at Kensington.

This session will provide an introduction to the Year 7&8 Next Steps Making Apps and the Years 9&10 Explore online courses. These courses are pa

rt of the free CSER professional development Project.

The session offers an opportunity to explore, with guidance, Arduino programming and App development as it is introduced in the MOOC. (Massive Open Online Course) and is suitable for Secondary teachers who are responsible for, or interested in implementing the Digital Technologies Curriculum.

Notes:

Morning tea and Lunch provided (please specify requirements on the registration form)
Please bring along a laptop and sense of adventure!
It is very helpful to have a Google Account (Gmail) and to have joined Google+ prior to the session

Claudia Szabo is an Associate Dean (Diversity and Inclusion) in the Faculty of Engineering Computer and Mathematical Sciences in The University of Adelaide and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computer Science. She works in the CSER Group at the University of Adelaide where she leads the development of the Year 7&8 Next Steps Making Apps MOOC and its associated lending library and other resources. She has an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering, and a PhD in distributed systems from the National University of Singapore. She is the 2017 recipient of the South Australian Science Excellence Award – STEM Educator of the Year. She is passionate about STEM education and in particular about ensuring that these educational opportunities are available to all and that career pathways into STEM and accessible to under-represented groups.

For more information please visit our website : https://csermoocs.adelaide.edu.au/

October 19, 2017
by rcrellin
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DigiTech and STEM sessions

The VCAA are offering heaps of DigiTech and STEM sessions for free! If you cant get to a face-to-face one, tune into the online ones which run for a hour, generally after school.

Topics include:

Digital Systems Curriculum Unplugged (F-6)
Visual Programming Languages in the Digital Technologies Curriculum (F-6)
Digital devices in the Digital Technologies Curriculum (plugged) (F-6)
Introduction to the Digital Technologies Curriculum 7-10
Planning and assessment in the Digital Technologies curriculum (7-10)
Teaching to the Data and Information strand (F-10)
Teaching to the Creating Digital Solutions strand (F-10)
Teaching to the Digital Systems strand (F-10)
Digital Technologies: Evaluation of 2017 and planning for 2018 (F-10)
STEM in the Victorian Curriculum F-10
Simple circuits in the Victorian Curriculum F-10
Drones in the Victorian Curriculum F-10
What do marble runs and mini golf have to do with STEM in the primary years?
STEM in the Victorian Curriculum F-10 (Level 7 – 10)

Find out more and register at: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/foundation10/viccurriculum/viccur-proflearn-specialists.aspx

October 10, 2017
by rcrellin
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DigiTech Webinars

VCAA Specialitst Teachers are running webinars over Term 4 to supprt the implementaiton of Digital Technologies and STEM – find more here.

Some DigiTech on offer this week:

11 October (Wednesday) Megan van der Velden (VCAA Specialist Teacher) 3.45pm

Title: Introduction to the Digital Technologies curriculum (F-10)

Time: 1 hour (3.45 – 4.45pm)

Outline:

Introduction to the curriculum
Ways of thinking
Strands
Key terms
Levels
Overview

Abstract:

This webinar will introduce participants to the Digital Technologies curriculum from F-10. They will become familiar with the curriculum as a continuum. Content of the session includes discussion around: ways of thinking, strands, key terms, content descriptions, achievement standards, levels and some examples of how to approach the teaching. This session will be suitable for teachers with little or no knowledge of the curriculum.

Link: https://reg.eventgate.com.au/Event/9987/Digital-Coding-Online—Introduction-to-the-Digital-Technologies-curriculum-F-10

12 October (Thursday) Sean Irving (VCAA Specialist Teacher) 3.45pm

Title: Curriculum Planning and Assessment for Digital Technologies (F-10)

Time: 1 hour (3.45 – 4.45pm)

Outline:

Brief overview of the curriculum
Discussion of scope and sequence
Mapping the curriculum
Suggested activities
Cross-curricular connections

Abstract:

This webinar will introduce participants to planning for the Digital Technologies curriculum from F-10. They will become familiar with the curriculum and scope and sequence. Content of the session will include: examples of how the curriculum will be mapped, discussion of sample activities and units as well as potential connections across the curriculum. This session will be suitable for teachers with a basic knowledge of the curriculum. Curriculum leaders are strongly encouraged to attend.

Link: https://reg.eventgate.com.au/Event/9988/Digital-Coding-Online-Curriculum-Planning-and-Assessment-for-Digital-Technologies-F10

13 October (Friday) Steve Allen (VCAA Specialist Teacher) 11.00am

Title: Digital Technologies curriculum unplugged (F-6)

Time: 1 hour (11.00 – 12.00 noon)

Outline:

Exploration of the curriculum
Unplugged activities
Teaching without devices
Resources
Approaches to teaching

Abstract:

This online session will be for teachers of the Digital Technologies curriculum from F-6 exploring the curriculum with limited access to digital devices. Teachers will learn about powerful and proven techniques to reinforce the understanding and thinking that underpins the curriculum. This session will be suitable for all F-6 teachers.

Link: https://reg.eventgate.com.au/Event/9989/Digital-Coding-Online-Digital-Technologies-curriculum-unplugged-F6

September 26, 2017
by rcrellin
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