On Wednesday 8 May and Tuesday 28 May, Lynda.com will hold professional development sessions in Critical and Creative Thinking and the Digital Technologies Curriculum, designed to help educators harness the program’s newest features.

Lynda.com, from Linkedin, is an internationally reputed online learning resource, featuring video courses taught by experts across software, design and business skills – and it’s available to teachers and secondary students free through the Department.

The program’s newest features include curriculum-aligned playlists and individual school administration rights, which boost Lynda.com’s effectiveness as both a teacher professional development and a student learning tool.

Professional development

Wednesday 8 May
Use Lynda.com to support Critical and Creative Thinking

Tuesday 28  May
Use Lynda.com to support teaching the Digital Technologies Curriculum

Teachers interested in enhancing digital literacy in the classroom can book now to attend Adobe’s Inject Creativity into the Curriculum Roadshow event this Thursday 2 May 2019, hosted by Camberwell Girls Grammar.

Similar events will be held on Thursday 13 June 2019 in Geelong, and Thursday 15 August 2019 in Research.

These workshops will demonstrate practical ways to inject creativity in many areas of the Foundation to Year 12 curriculum and area ideal for teachers of English, humanities subjects, IT, media and digital art, among others.

Register now

​Funding is available for schools across Victoria to form partnerships that broaden their current VCE subject offerings for rural and regional students.

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation’s (ACTF) First Day Teaching Toolkit explores themes relevant to the Year 6/7 transition, including values, identity, resilience, friendships, and inclusivity.

First Day (2017) follows main character Hannah as she finishes primary school and begins her secondary schooling. Hannah experiences all the excitement and fear associated with this transition, but her first day of high school is even more significant: it’s the first day she will wear a girl’s uniform to school and go by her chosen name, rather than the boy’s name she was given at birth.

The film is part of the ACTF’s International Day or the Girl Collection of short-films released earlier this year.

First Day Q&A Webinar

Upper primary and secondary students (years 5-9) are invited to participate in a live First Day Q&A Webinar with First Day director Julie Kalceff and movie lead Evie MacDonald, who plays Hannah.

The webinar will be held on Thursday 28 March from 12.00pm – 12.45pm.

There is no cost to participate, but places will be limited. Register now.

Why do spiders have hairy legs? Do sharks sneeze? Is there anything hotter than the sun? The team behind The Conversation’s Curious Kids has the answers to these and many more weird and wonderful questions.

The Conversation is an Australian news and perspectives website. Via its hugely popular Curious Kids section, The Conversation encourages inquisitive children to ask the questions they’ve always wondered about. From biology research fellows to associate professors, experts then provide insightful answers in simple and engaging language.

Workshop your curiosity

Victorian Government Grade 5 teachers are encouraged to submit their  class’ best science-related question to digital.learning@edumail.vic.gov.au by 15 February for the chance to participate in a live Curious Kids workshop at your school.

Selected classes will be visited by Curious Kids Editor Sunanda Creagh and an academic expert, on Monday 18 or Tuesday 19 March.

The expert will share their insights with students, explaining how they found the answer to the questions they received. Sunanda will share with students an entertaining conversation about journalism and following your curiosity.

Not a Grade 5 teacher but still curious?

All students encouraged to submit their questions to the Curious Kids team, and an expert in the field might publish an answer. Questions can be emailed to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au

You can even submit your own class question. No question is too serious or too silly for Curious Kids.

While not all questions can be answered, you can keep an eye on whether yours has by subscribing to The Conversation’s daily news

The Conversation as a teaching resource

As a teaching resource, Curious Kids is an entertaining, evidence-based tool that helps engage students and encourage a love of learning.

Explore many more weird and wonderful questions, including why we dream and why English has so many spelling rules via FUSE Curious Kids

More broadly, The Conversation features articles written by academics with deep subject expertise that are evidence-based and/or informed by genuine insight.

As a strategic partner of The Conversation, the Victorian Department of Education provides Victorian Curriculum-mapped access to the site’s content. Teachers can even pitch their own story ideas at The Conversation for teachers

Clifton Hill Primary School today hosted the Australian launch of Safer Internet Day 2019, with students pledging their commitment to the 4Rs – respect, resilience, responsibility and reasoning – by placing a symbolic handprint on a mural reflecting these values.

Principal of Clifton Hill Primary School, Megan Smith, said the school is proud of the way students and teachers model the 4Rs every day in school life.

“Today, Safer Internet Day, is a reminder to us that we should be modelling these values online, not just in the real world,” she explained.

The school’s Year 6 students also heard from Julie Inman-Grant, Australian eSafety Commissioner, and the world’s first e-safety commissioner. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner is responsible for Safer Internet Day in Australia.

“The 4Rs for the digital age are increasingly important as technology becomes ingrained in your everyday lives,” Julie told the students.

“We want the Internet to be a safer, kinder place. As grade 6s you have a responsibility to model these behaviours and help teach younger kids how to use the Internet safely.”

A young polar explorer’s experiences online

Jade Hameister, polar explorer, Year 11 Melbourne student and Safer Internet Day Ambassador, spoke of her personal experiences online.

At just 17, and with the North Pole, Greenland Crossing and South Pole solo expeditions under her belt, Jade has a large online profile.

“I’ve received some nasty comments on social media,” she said. “This got worse as my online profile grew.”

These comments included a sexist campaign by online bullies repeatedly telling her to ‘make me a sandwich’ in attempt to belittle her achievements.

This disrespect, Jade said, only built her resilience and her sense of responsibility to help improve the online confidence of other young people.

“I want to see the Internet and social media used as a way to make a better world,” she explained. “I want to see a shift in focus to what we can do rather than what we look like.”

The Office of the eSafety Commissioner is running Safer Internet Day events and activities over the next few days. Resources to help schools embrace safety online are also available. Visit Safer Internet Day

Your Digital Power in the DET virtual classroom

The Department today hosted a Safer Internet Day Your Digital Power virtual classroom session focused on creating positive online communities. More than 2,500 students from primary schools across the state participated.

A second virtual classroom will be held on Thursday 7 February.

Register your year 4 to 6 classes at Your Digital Power

Bouncing Back from Online Bullying in the DET virtual classroom

On March 20 and 21 the Department, in partnership with the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, will host a presentation for years 4 to 6 focused on strategies for building digital resilience.

Register at Bouncing Back from Online Bullying

The Victorian Government is a strategic partner of The Conversation. Content for the news site is written by academics and researchers with deep subject expertise. That means educators can rely on these articles being based on evidence and informed by genuine insight.

With VCE resuts and ATARs released this morning, The Conversation’s article Three things high school graduates should keep in mind when they have their ATARs is timely, relevant and interesting for educators and students alike.

Access content mapped to the Victorian Curriculum, or pitch your own ideas at https://theconversation.com/au/resource-for-teachers

Even though 99.99 per cent of visitors to your class blog will be well-meaning parents, students, community members, or interested visitors from around the world, the unfortunate reality is that those with bad intentions can also visit public sites.

The edublogger has some handy tips for how, when, and when not to, use student photos online and in blogs.

Learn more at The Edublogger

Mathematics Curriculum Companion
Teachers and educators seeking additional resources or ways to support students in their numeracy are encouraged to explore the Birth to Level 10 Maths Curriculum Companion. This resource is a learning and teaching tool aligned to the Victorian Curriculum F-10 and Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF).

Everyday Maths tools for parents
Educators also know that it can be easier for children to understand maths concepts and practical applications when they can relate these to their everyday lives. The Everyday Maths resource helps parents take advantage of numeracy learning opportunities in everyday activities, with animations demonstrating how every day is a learning opportunity to establish and reinforce foundational numeracy skills. Teachers of early years to Year 2 are encouraged to share this resource with parents.

Derrimut Primary School
Derrimut Primary School has made the development of numeracy instruction a priority and is working to reframe the perceptions of numeracy and maths in the school community.

Find out how Derrimut Primary School is making maths fun here

Derrimut Primary School is also using language skills to teach maths