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Author Archives: Kerrie Smith

Executive Officer, education.au

What is a wirearchy?

September 5, 2008 – 5:25 pm

This afternoon, at the 2nd National Leading a Digital School Conference in Sydney, I attended a presentation by Dr. Glenn Finger of Griffith University titled Leading a Digital school - Imagination, Ideas and Inspiration: Roadmaps and Signposts.
Glenn is one of the authors whose work appears in leading a digital school: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE, which I […]

Posted in Educationau, web 2.0, wirearchy | Comments (0)

Blogging and Conversation

September 5, 2008 – 7:13 am

I believe strongly that the posting of a blog can be the start of a conversation. Of course that only happens when someone takes the time to comment on your blog.
Have you had a chance to look at the edna Group Blogging Corner?
For the last five or so weeks we’ve been running a Blogging Corner […]

Posted in Educationau, web 2.0, bloggingcorner08 | Comments (0)

Supporting Professional Development in a Digital World

September 4, 2008 – 1:09 pm

Tomorrow I am presenting a session at the 2nd National Leading a Digital School Conference in Sydney.
I sent my presentation off to the organisers a couple of weeks ago, and, as I always do, this morning I “tweaked” it. Basically that means I looked at it and made some changes, adding things in, and taking […]

Posted in Educationau | Comments (1)

Can kids teach themselves?

September 3, 2008 – 8:09 am

Speaking at LIFT 2007, Sugata Mitra talks about his Hole in the Wall project. Young kids in this project figured out how to use a PC on their own — and then taught other kids. He asks, what else can children teach themselves?
Sugata Mitra, begins with some discussion about concepts of remoteness and the quality […]

Posted in Educationau, future schooling | Comments (1)

Heralding a new era of reform

September 2, 2008 – 11:23 am

Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education opened the ACPET (Australian Council for Private Education and Training) 2008 conference on Friday 29 August.
The speech that she gave is available here.
The focus of her speech was “the need to modernize, expand and strengthen Australia’s vocational education and training industry.” It really ties in well […]

Posted in Educationau, Australian education, digital education revolution | Comments (2)

Podcasts for educators - part 2

August 28, 2008 – 5:20 pm

The first two of four podcasts from Professor Martin Westwell’s seminar held in Sydney on Tuesday 26 August are now available.
Mind over Matter: the science of learning - part 1
Mind over Matter: the science of learning - part 2
The slides he used in his presentations are now available on the education.au site, as well as […]

Posted in Educationau, mind_matter_sem, eduauseminars | Comments (0)

Mind Over Matter Seminar on the cyberways

August 27, 2008 – 9:09 am

Yesterday education.au hosted a seminar in Sydney with Professor Martin Westwell titled Mind Over Matter. Professor Martin is Director of the Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century. The seminar aimed to provide insight into how modern lifestyles and technologies are influencing the minds of the young and old.
During the day, for those […]

Posted in Educationau, mind_matter_sem, eduauseminars | Comments (0)

Podcasts for educators - part 1

August 25, 2008 – 8:53 am

Educators are coming to understand how podcasts can be used in education. There are two sides to this coin:

using podcasts for professional development - the educator as a consumer
using podcasts with students- this can be twofold:

teachers creating podcasts for use with students
students creating podcasts as part of their educational experience

It is the former that I […]

Posted in Educationau, podcasting | Comments (2)

In Search of a Green DER

August 22, 2008 – 8:47 am

The cover story on Issue 25 of Education Technology Solutions is titled GREEN COMPUTING: Saving the Planet One Classroom at a Time, and reminded me of some unfinished business.
Nearly a month ago I asked How Green is your DER?
The focus of what I wrote then is very similar to the points made in the GREEN […]

Posted in Educationau | Comments (10)

What does it take to make a digital school?

August 21, 2008 – 1:03 pm

This is a question that many principals, educators, and administrators both here in Australia and worldwide are asking themselves: and the answers are not simple.
We all know that it involves a bit more than just rolling out the computers, ramping up the wiring and fibre optics, handing out some laptops, training the teachers and so. […]

Posted in Educationau, digital education revolution | Comments (3)