Is this Technically the Best 1:1 Rollout in the World? 20 August, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in education, ICT in Education, Internet, Life, My Thoughts, NSW, technology, windows.Tags: 1:1, Digital Education Revolution, education, laptops, Lenovo, NSWDET, students
15 comments
October 20, 2007 – Australian Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd is on the election campaign trail making a promise that made state governments, educational authorities and teachers shudder in their boots. While holding up a laptop which he referred to as “the toolbox of the 21st Century“, he promised to provide a computer to every high school student from grades 9 through 12. Then he became Prime Minister and the pressure was really on, because while he would provide the funding, the Federal Government does not control school education and would not be responsible for implementation – the individuals states would.
Which Teachers Should get a T1 Laptop? 26 June, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in education, ICT in Education, technology.Tags: 1:1, classroom, education, education revolution, laptops, Laptops4Learning, NSWDET
68 comments
The initial rollout of Laptop Computers as part of the New South Wales Digital Education Revolution is pretty clear-cut when it comes to students – ALL year 9 students will get one this year. But when it comes to teachers, the T1 rollout sees high schools receiving enough to cover only one-third of their staff. This begs the question, which teachers should get a T1 Laptop?
Lifelong Learning is NOT a 9 to 5 Job 14 June, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in education, ICT in Education, Internet, Life, technology.Tags: education, Life, lifelong learning, schools, teaching
12 comments
Late last year I attended my son’s high school graduation where speech after speech espoused the knowledge and skills that the Class of 2008 have gained over their thirteen years of schooling. As the students prepared for the next phase of their lives, it was heartening to hear that they all had been instilled with the fundamentals of lifelong learning. I wish.
Image by Tragicomedio
I, Cyberbully. 29 May, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in education, hell, ICT in Education, Internet, Life, My Thoughts, pranks.Tags: cyberbullying, Life, school, social networking, students
5 comments
I’m not sure I quite remember when and how it started. He was just another boy in my class. But it seemed that everything he did just grated on me. No, I don’t want to listen to your music. Hell, that’s a stupid haircut. Put your hand down and shutup for god’s sake. I’m gonna say something to him.
image by Jeff Weston
What ICT Teachers Think… 20 May, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in education, ICT in Education, Internet, My Thoughts.Tags: computers, education revolution, ICT in Education, teaching
10 comments
EVERY School Term for the past ten years, in conjunction with my team, I have been running Information Days for school ICT Coordinators. Over 250 teachers representing over 200 public schools consistently come to find out the latest information relating to ICT in school education in our little part of the world. Now while I’m usually the one passing the latest news onto them, I often like to ask them what their point of view is – that is, being a school educator that uses ICT in the classroom, or in other words, being a minority within the teaching faculty. Here’s what some of them have told me.
Uh oh. I think I have Swine Flu… 30 April, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in Humor, jokes, Life.Tags: friday fun, funny, Humor, jokes, swine flu
13 comments
I had a little nap after work, and when I awoke, I found myself covered in rashers. On the news they showed up the phone number for the Swine Flu information line, so I rang them up to get some advice. Problem was I couldn’t make out a word they were saying. All I heard was crackling.
Still Waiting for the Revolution… 26 January, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in education, ICT in Education, Internet, NSW, Politics, technology.Tags: Alan Kay, Digital Education Revolution, education, ICT in Education, revolution
7 comments
Date Log: January 2009. Still waiting for the revolution.
Australia’s Digital Education Revolution is coming. Even before it started, it was identified that the $1.2 billion promised was not going to be enough, so now with the injection of a further $807 million, Educational Authorities across the country are investigating hardware options including laptops and wireless connectivity. But Dr Alan Kay is still not convinced that this will be the revolution our children need.
“Clickers” or “Virtual Clickers”? 8 January, 2009
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, education, ICT in Education, technology, windows.Tags: clicker, education, student response
4 comments
For a few years now, Personal Response Systems (PRS) and Student Response Systems (SRS) have been making major inroads into classrooms and lecture halls, particularly in Universities and Colleges. These “clicker” systems literally put engagement, motivation, participation and instant feedback into the palm of each student’s hand.
…in my Spare Time, I write Software. 17 August, 2008
Posted by paralleldivergence in children, education, games, ICT in Education, Internet, TV Shows.Tags: educational, gameshow, jeopardy, windows
5 comments
That’s what I’ve been doing lately instead of writing more articles here at Parallel Divergence. So I thought I’d share with you my latest hobby project. It’s called Stu’s Double Jeopardy! version 3.1 – and as usual, it’s completely free for anyone who wants it.
Australia’s Digital Education Revolution? 1 June, 2008
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, children, education, ICT in Education, Internet, Life, My Thoughts.Tags: Australia, Digital Education Revolution, ICT in Education
17 comments
NOT LONG after Kevin Rudd’s Labor Party was whisked into power in Australia after 12 years of conservative government, there were immediate and obvious differences that appeared. Rudd took no traditional “honeymoon” period, instead preferring to get straight to work on delivering his pre-election promises. One of these being the $1.2 billion “Digital Education Revolution“.
Games With A Purpose 17 May, 2008
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, education, games, Internet, Life.Tags: games, gwap, human computation, intelligence
8 comments
Humans compute very differently to computers. Knowledge, Intelligence and Wisdom are not terms often attributed to computers. The closest descriptors in the computer world are Data, Processors and Recursion. They’re just not the same.
Still Interested in a Class Blog? 22 April, 2008
Posted by jeopardygame in blogging, Brad & Phil, children, education, ICT in Education, Internet, Web 2.0.Tags: blogs, classroom, education, students
12 comments
If you’re still listening, I’ll assume you’re still interested in creating a class blog at your school. In part one, we concentrated on WHY teachers and schools should be blogging. In part two, we looked at WHAT had to be done to ensure student privacy and security. Now, in this third instalment of the class blogging series, we’ll look more closely at the HOW TO get started process.
Getting Started with Class Blogs 21 April, 2008
Posted by paralleldivergence in blogging, Brad & Phil, children, education, ICT in Education, Internet, Life, technology, Web 2.0.Tags: blogs, classroom, education, schools, students, Web 2.0
7 comments
In the article “Why Teachers and Schools Should be Blogging“, I discussed the reasons and benefits of blogging in the classroom, but for the blogging-novice, there are student privacy, security and policy concerns that must be considered. Assuming you took notice of the content of that first article, this one will take you through the first steps of creating a class blog and is part of a series that will clarify and develop this process for teachers and schools starting out.
Why Teachers and Schools Should be Blogging 12 April, 2008
Posted by paralleldivergence in blogging, Brad & Phil, children, education, Internet, Life, My Thoughts.Tags: blogs, education, Life, students, teachers, Web 2.0
19 comments
MANY of our students leave school in the afternoon and go straight on-line as soon as they get home. They immediately start chatting with their friends on MSN, often holding down multiple conversations at the same time, seamlessly changing subjects and maintaining discussion threads as they swap from one chat window to the next. Their typing speed continually improves and in just one on-line session, they might type more text than they handwrite during their lessons at school in a whole day.
The Needle and the Damage Done 2 March, 2008
Posted by paralleldivergence in children, education, Life, Music.20 comments
The unexpected demise of famous young people due to “accidental” drug overdoses has dotted modern history. Janis Joplin, John Belushi, River Phoenix, Kurt Cobain, and Heath Ledger all succumbed to an addiction that snatched away their lives when they were in their prime. While crystal-meth, crack and ecstasy are now the most “popular” of illicit drugs, Heroin still remains the pinnacle.
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