Guest post: Bravofiles with Andy G

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Rachel

You no longer have to sit in confusion, trying to work out if the software somebody just recommended is worth downloading and if it is ‘safe’. Bravofiles has done the hard work for you. This website helps you to download different types of device drivers and software utilities. I love the Software reviews section of the site, that details the software and provides the link to download it:

Andy G, from Bravofiles, has kindly written an article for Bright Ideas viewers about Apple’s iPhone. You can expect the same detailed information on his website.

The iPhone covers 18% of smartphone market. Why so?

Apple’s iPhone, currently in the fourth generation, was unveiled to the broad public at the beginning of 2007. The idea of a smart phone did not originate with Apple, but entering the booming cellular phone market was something that had to be considered. Apparently it was Steve Jobs’ idea to outfit the phone with a touchscreen, a revolutionary development that resulted in the touchscreen craze for any and all handheld devices that we are encountering now. But being the first and the legendary Apple design did the trick and suddenly you are not purchasing a mobile phone, you are getting yourself an iPhone.

What is the big deal?
Ever since the company Apple, Inc. was founded on April 1st, 1976 the one business practice that has never been a laughable matter was the design. Apple did not want to make products that just do the job, Apple wanted to provide the customer with something special, something that looked good and was cherished. The one singular trait that all consumers of Apple products have in common is the pride of ownership. Owning an Apple product was a status symbol, something the company was always very keen on establishing and maintaining.
Even the most recent commercial for iPhone 4 follows the same principle with “either you have an iPhone, or you don’t” slogan. That is why you almost never hear the company Apple refers to an iPhone as a cell phone, or mobile phone, not even as smartphone. It worked; no user of iPhone calls the device by its function, just simply “my iPhone”.

Is owning an iPhone providing the owner with something others do not have?
The answer to this question must remain ambiguous, because you do receive an iPhone with a proprietary operating system and access to applications and content tailor made for this operating system only. However, there is not a single application that does not have a twin brother made for the Android platform, moreover, according to recent statistics, there are more Android applications than iOS applications available, making Android the most popular platform in that particular branch.

Is an iPhone better than an Android phone?
Again, the answer must remain ambiguous, because tastes are very different from person to person. Downloading an application from the internet is now common to every smartphone, including operating systems other than the two already mentioned. It comes down to the personal preference of the user, who has to decide if the Apple iPhone or an Android phone is more to their taste. Needless to say that there are other choices available as well, like a BlackBerry or a Symbian phone, not to mention all the other handheld devices that are now also featuring 3G capabilities.

Conclusion
An iPhone is a status symbol, a fashion statement more than a rational decision, despite the undisputed capabilities the smartphone provides. The dominant market share of a smartphone model that iPhone currently holds is therefore due more to the design, the brand Apple and the public opinion of the brand Apple, rather than any unique iPhone capabilities that have not been replicated by other operating systems, since there are none. It is as the advertisement says, either you have an iPhone, or you don’t.

Thankyou, Andy, for the article and for the great work done on Bravofiles.

Guest post: An international 3-way webchat for Gippsland youth

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Rachel

On 21st May 2011, an innovative group took part in an international 3-way co-author webchat via Skype. The chat was set up by Phong Truong, Branch Support Librarian of the Civic Centre, Port of Sale, Wellington Shire. The webchat allowed rural youth to connect with authors. Particpant and author Hazel Edwards explains the process, the strengths of the webchat, and the challenges:

This morning we had a chat about writing which overcame geographical and a few other barriers.

This webinar was an innovation set up by Branch Support Librarian Phong Truong after attending a talk I’d given at the SLV on our YA novel ‘f2m:the boy within’. She wanted to use technology to attract youth & provide access to counselling resources on issues such as gender.

Across the Tasman and across Skype, it was a 3 way Webinar between Wellington Shire Gippsland Youth Council members, co-author Ryan Kennedy in Wellington New Zealand and myself in Melbourne.

Ironically, at first, we didn’t realise both places were both called Wellington.

Did it work? Yes. But we had a few technical hitches. Despite the trial on Thursday afternoon, where audio problems were solved with a closer microphone relaying questions, getting the visuals working three ways on the Saturday ‘real’ event was a challenge.

Was it worthwhile? YES!

Strengths of Webinar:

Role modelling by Ryan as young novelist, writing first book from own gender experience.

Demonstration of how ‘outside’ authors could be accessed, where-ever they or potential readers live.

Practical sharing of how co-authors had utilised electronic ways of collaborating (and how to cope when things go wrong).

Good questions and candid answers.

Encourageded rural youth to utilise Internet resources when seeking answers to problems: relationships, gender or literary.

This area has a Youth Council with a Youth Mayor, and Pauline the Deputy Youth Mayor participated.

Audio was clear.

What have we learnt from the experience:

Network connection recommended over Wifi.

Need to have a test session, especially for sound. Re-position seating.

Prepared questions

Suggest audience identify themselves when asking questions.

Wear a bright coloured jacket to stand out from dark chairs.

Intimate group enabled questions to be answered fully. ‘Casual feel’ atmosphere conducive to a real exchange.

Since our YA novel subject matter of gender was controversial, helpful to have co-authors viewpoints from varied backgrounds & generations & access to their website resources such as YA guests blogs.

Needs a co-ordinator to arrange books available for reading beforehand & this is where e-books are more easily accessible.

Challenges:

Several youth who were expected didn’t make it, but there were eight in the room, including the deputy Youth Mayor.

Technical issues with getting the visuals to work three ways on Skype. After a 10 minute delay, we decided to go with visuals between the Wellington Youth and Ryan in NZ, and utilise Hazel’s audio although they could ‘see’ Hazel. At the end, we had a concentrated visual session between Hazel and the group in Gippsland.

Co-ordinating: Phong prepared books, handouts etc and invited reps from youth groupings, but 10 am Saturday a bad time for techie support and those who play football.

Questions covered writing issues such as how to co-write on Skype and e-mail, how did the book get published and benefits in e-book format. Gender questions included issues such as how do you get support in a rural area, Ryan’s personal experiences transitioning and media and librarian reactions to ‘f2m:the boy within’.

PS Only afterwards, I realised the room in which participants chatted was called the Wellington Room! I was still in my Melbourne study, but my husband had cleared up his desk, visible behind my head on the web cam. That’s another plus for participating in web chats! Desks get tidied or are caught forever on web cam.

Phong outlines the Wellington Shire Gippsland Youth Council and lists those involved in the Skype chat:

The Wellington Shire Youth Council is made up of 18 youth between the ages of 12-25, who eagerly represent young people within Wellington Shire. It provides an avenue for youth issues, feedback and communications to liaise with Wellington Shire Council, forming a bridge between youth and local government. Youth Councillors are instigators of positive change and act as role models and leaders with the community.

Youth Councillors who were in attendance:

Krystal Davison, Youth Mayor, 19 yro, Sale

Pauline Rathnow, Deputy Youth Mayor, 23 yro, Wurruk

Mallory Ginkel, Youth Councillor, 15 yro, Sale

Dean Hardisty, Youth Councilllor, 19 yro, Paradise Beach

Mel Giles, Youth Councillor, 22 yro, Sale

Staff:

Phong Truong, Branch Support Librarian

Katy Cummins, Communications Officer – Media publicity and photo

Damian Norkus, Information Technology Support Officer – Set up of Skype link

Before participating in the webchat, the youth were expected to read f2m. The trailer for the novel is below:

Thankyou to Hazel and Phong for sharing their webchat experience. What I love about this webchat is that regional youth were provided with role-modeling from the authors, experienced amazing technology, and discovered how there are really no barriers anymore to what can be achieved (co-authors Hazel and Ryan explained how they co-wrote on Skype). If you are thinking of organising your own author/youth chat via Skype and would like to contact Hazel, Ryan, or Phong, please leave a comment or contact them via their websites (linked to above). To see reviews of the fabulous book f2m, visit Google Reads.

Guest post: Junior M’s blogging and global collaboration, by Michelle Scott

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Rachel

Michelle Scott is a teacher at St. Luke the Evangelist School, Blackburn South, Victoria. Michelle has developed a bright, engaging blog with her junior class called Junior M’s Learning Journey that showcases their learning using web 2.0 technology. The class is also involved in a wonderful exchange activity that is connecting them globally. Michelle explains below:

In 2010 I completed the SLAV Web 2.0 course along with several other teachers at St Luke’s. At this time a blog was started for our two grade 1/2 classes – Junior’s Jig. My level partner Verona maintained the blog with my class chipping in posts every now and then. This year my class Junior M have the very own blog (we signed with blogger after much unsuccessful wrangling with wordpress), Junior M’s Learning Journey. My aim for the blog is to provide the St Luke’s community (parents, families and friends) and a gradually developing group of global friends (through twitter), an insight into the learning Junior M is engaged with most weeks.

Recently, my students made a significant connection with a school in Ontario, Canada with whom we are twitter-friends. After we posted questions on twitter to the Gill_Villeans they asked us if we’d like to host their class mascot, Gill the goldfish, and to add photos etc., of his adventures at St Lukes on their wiki. Their teacher is using this as a platform to further engage her students in writing.

Over the term holidays we will send our class mascot, Ella the echidna, to Canada. Students in Junior are fascinated with the process of receiving a package from overseas and have many ideas for how to host our visitor, which they actively implement.

I feel this process of blogging and commenting on blog posts extends the children, from enriching their thinking both laterally and critically, to exposing them to a world beyond their classroom. This in turn shows them how much in common we have with people around the world.

The understanding of differences and similarities that comes from global collaboration is priceless. Thankyou, Michelle, for sharing your teaching and learning with us. All the best to Ella on her big trip.

Guest post: Kleinspiration – technology treasures for today’s teachers, by Erin Klein

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Rachel

Erin Klein is a middle school teacher in southern Michigan with her Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. Erin has created a fantastic resource for educators in her blog Kleinspiration, showcasing web 2.0 resources that can be used as tools to enhance teaching and learning. Below is more information about Erin and Kleinspiration:

Kleinspiration, a newly created educational blog, brings readers technology treasures for today’s teachers. Classroom teacher, Erin Klein, showcases a rich display of web 2.0 sites for grade levels K-12 and all content areas. Klein states that her focus for selecting sites is based on three main factors: free sites that encourage student collaboration and project based learning, parent-friendly sites that support the student’s studies, and websites that spark higher-level thinking in a manner that is engaging for both teacher and student.

Klein has extensive training in reading intervention programs and roots her style in Dr. Spencer Kagan’s Cooperative Learning Structures to infuse natural collaboration within her classroom and increase active engagement so that all students’ learning potential is maximized. Klein decided to pursue her passion for technology integration when she realized how much her own children were becoming acclimated to technology, and learning so much from it, all at such a young developmental and cognitive learning age. She knew this was their world, and she should embrace it. Times have changed; sadly, classrooms haven’t. Thus, Klein began networking with other teachers and developed ways to comfortably embrace technology.

Klein has worked with teachers across the state of Michigan to help develop creative ways for technology integration into the classroom. Though Klein firmly believes in preparing students for a global society, she continuously reinforces that technology is simply a tool to support and enhance instruction – the teacher and the students drive the learning. Those who have worked with Klein state that the most surprising aspect they walk away with is seeing how truly motivated the students become. Not only are her resources beneficial, but her enthusiastic approach is contagious as she works with fellow educators and students.

Oftentimes, the Internet can become cumbersome for those who only have a brief moment to utilize its full potential. Though most of us would love to include more technology into our lesson planning, we find that we simply run out of time. We run out of time when planning (as there are so many sites to choose from), and we run out of time covering content within the classroom (as there are so many weekly disruptions). Kleinspiration provides a spot where teachers can browse the newest technology finds, while still being reminded of quality sites that have been around, read comments/reviews other professionals/parents have made about a particular site, and peek directly into Klein’s middle school classroom as she shares her own lessons and student product examples. Furthermore, Klein has a contact page where she welcomes questions and opportunities to work together through conferences and workshops.

Kleinspiration provides inspiration to students looking for the ‘just right way’ to present an upcoming project, the parent at home wishing for support to assist with homework, and the teacher who is searching for the perfect gem to jazz up his or her lesson.

Thankyou, Erin, for sharing your wonderful blog with the readers of Bright Ideas. If any readers would like more information, or would like to work with Erin, visit Kleinspiration.

Guest Post: Integrating Australian Curriculum into units of work, by Lisa Hill

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Rachel

Lisa Hill, teacher librarian at Mossgiel Park Primary School, is integrating the new Australian Curriculum into her existing literature units of work. Lisa outlines this work on her fantastic blog LisaHillSchoolStuff’s Weblog, and is willing to share the four units of work when she has completed them. On behalf of many primary school educators out there, thankyou Lisa!

Guest post: Class blog ‘Learning Together’ by Marie Kennedy

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Rachel

Marie Kennedy is a prep teacher at St. Luke the Evangelist School, Blackburn South, Victoria. Marie and her prep students’s class blog, Learning Together, is a wonderful example of how web 2.0 tools can be used to support and extend teaching and learning, and as a way to make connections:

I started my class blog following the SLAV Personal Learning Network PD I was a part of early in 2010, where I had learnt so much about Web 2.0 tools and the many benefits of blogging for Learning and Teaching. I was excited about the potential for local and global collaboration and creating strong links between home and school. I had always used ‘myclasses’ as a way to communicate with parents about what was happening in the classroom however I could see the enormous potential of creating a class blog.

As a Prep teacher I spend a lot of time modelling how to use a blog. Through this modelling the students are learning important protocols and safe behaviours when navigating the online world. I am responsible for posting photos, writing most of the posts and moderating comments. My students take part by sharing reflections on their learning using tools such as voicethread, wallwisher and videos. I share their writing, reading, maths and art through slideshows. My students also become involved in commenting. I model the process and at this early stage of the year I type their thoughts and ideas. My students are articulating to a global community what they have discovered helping them to consolidate and deepen their understandings. Many visitors to our blog ask interesting questions that extends the students thinking and challenges them to consider new perspectives. These are some of the powerful advantages of blogging.

While we have had success reaching out to the global community one of the challenges of blogging is involving our parent community. My major aim for developing a class blog was to connect with parents and families. To provide a springboard for conversation at home about what is happening at school and how the students are thinking and learning. While some parents do visit and comment I have had limited success with this. As a school we are hoping to provide a parent night on blogging to address this issue.

Blogging allows for authentic and rich conversation both within and beyond our school community.

Thankyou, Marie, for sharing your fantastic work, and the work of your students. I particularly like how visually appealing Learning Together is, with the images of your students and their work. Your adopted pet Freddie, the spider, is a cute extra on the blog and a good way to create interest in any blog (e.g. name the virtual pet or avatar). Learning Together provides uses of web 2.0 tools that will offer inspiration to many.

Guest post: Kilbreda College Library by Louise McInerney

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Rachel

Louise McInerney is a teacher librarian and library coordinator at Kilbreda College, Mentone, Victoria. The library website of Kilbreda College has a wonderful catalogue of resources the library can provide, but, as Louise says ‘we also include links to six local public libraries on our Catalogue page’. In doing so, the students are not only equipped to use the vast collection of the college, they are provided with a list of libraries close to them, and are able to access their catalogues from the one webpage. The students of Kilbreda College are at an advantage in the search for great resources, and it is one that other school libraries can easily adopt by enlisting the services of their local libraries.

Kilbreda College Library website has other great features, such as the activities section offering a reading program, plenty of competitions, bookclubs, and links to bookreview sites. There is also a great section for teachers, and a thorough resource section, with links to news websites, databases, and the college’s subject resources. Have a look at the website for further inspiration to providing students with the resources they need:

Thankyou Louise for sharing your ideas on providing for the students, and creating connections with community libraries.

Guest post: Inside a Dog with Heath Graham

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Rachel

The Centre for Youth Literature’s (CYL) Inside a Dog website was launched last night at the Docklands. Heath Graham, the Learning Programs Officer for Online Education at State Library of Victoria, has kindly outlined what students and educators will be getting from the new Inside a Dog. In Heath’s words, “The old dog has learnt a whole bunch of new tricks”.

The new version of Inside a Dog maintains all of the features of the old site, adding new functionality to help readers to share what they love and discover new books.

The biggest new feature on the site is the addition of member-run book clubs. If you are a fan of a particular author, genre, or series, you can now start your own Inside a Dog book club and find other like-minded readers to share ideas, post reviews, or show off your fan art. Book clubs can be either open membership, allowing any of the site’s users from around the world to join and contribute, or closed, requiring permission from the clubs’ creator to join.

Each site member will have their own page, listing reviews they have written, their favourite and recommended books, and the book clubs they are members of. “Star reviewers” will earn privileges, ranging from recognition on the site itself to copies of books to review.

In addition to individual pages for members, each book reviewed on the site will have its own page. Book pages will list all reviews of the book, along with any additional content supplied by publishers, including first chapters, book trailers, and audiobook snippets, and a list of recommendations and related titles.

Recognising the popularity of the site with teachers and librarians, the revamped site has curriculum-linked resources supporting the use of book clubs in the classroom, writing book reviews, and exploring the use of new media in creative responses to literature, as well as information for teachers on copyright and using online resources in the classroom.

Inside a Dog will continue to run a news blog, and the popular Writer in Residence feature, allowing readers to interact and join in a discussion with a new YA author every month. The Inky Awards, yearly reader-voted awards for favourite local and overseas book, and the Inkys Creative Reading Prize will also continue.

In addition to this new version of a favourite website, there have been other changes behind the scenes at the Centre for Youth Literature. Adele Walsh (aka blogger Persnickety Snark), has begun as the new CYL Program Coordinator, following Mike Shuttleworth’s resignation for personal reasons. Lili Wilkinson, herself an award-winning YA author, will also be leaving CYL to commence a creative writing PhD at the University of Melbourne. Both Lili and Mike have made enormous contributions to the Centre’s work, and they are wished the very best for their future endeavours. The Centre’s new status as a Key Organisation for the Australia Council for the Arts kicks off a new era for CYL in 2011. For more information please contact the Centre for Youth Literature on 03-86647262, or youthlit@slv.vic.gov.au

Thankyou to Heath and the CYL team for providing such a fantastic website for readers to use, enjoy, and contribute to.

Guest post: Global collaboration by Kathleen Morris

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Rachel

Kathleen Morris is a grade two teacher from Leopold Primary School, Victoria. Kathleen has an inspirational blog called Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom, where she shares her experiences, resources, and advice concerning blogging, global collaboration, and technology integration.

Kathleen has agreed to share her wonderful experiences with collaborating globally, in a joint post between Bright Ideas and Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom. We hope together we can inspire more teachers to make connections and open up whole new worlds for their students.

Below, Kathleen outlines her experiences from the first global collaboration in 2008 to now, showing that her classroom experiences of collaboration have become more integrated, frequent, and richer.

I created the following diagram to demonstrate how my involvement in global collaboration has progressed (tip: click on image if you want to see it more clearly).

A summary of how I progressed with global collaboration

2008

Christmas Card Exchange Project organised through iEARN: our class was matched with seven schools around the world and we exchanged Christmas/holiday cards.
PROS – Learning about all the different countries involved and their holiday traditions.
CONS – Lack of “real” connection to the classes and lack of technology used (the contact was slow!).

2009

Teddy Bear Exchange Project organised through iEARN: our class was matched with a class in Canada. We exchanged teddies via snail mail and we “helped” the teddies write weekly emails to each other. We collated all the emails on a page on our class blog.

PROS – We learnt a lot about life in Canada; children learnt about email.
CONS – There wasn’t the chance for a “real” connection to develop between students – it was all through the teddy.

*****

Blogging Buddies: in our second year of blogging we began forming connections with many classes around the world. We would leave comments on our new friends’ blogs and keep track of what they were up to in an informal manner.

PROS – Blogging suddenly become more powerful, interesting and meaningful as we had a real international audience. Students began to learn there was a life outside of their neighbourhood.
CONS – All our interactions and learning was “ad-hoc”.

2010 – first half

Our relationships with our blogging buddies continued and expanded while we looked to more structured, self-organised and personalised projects.

Collaboration Corner http://collaboration-corner.blogspot.com
I created a blog with Linda Yollis in California. Our classes had got to know each other since early 2009 via our class blogs.
We called the blog “Collaboration Corner”. This was a place for the students to work on projects together and have rich discussions through commenting.

We had two main projects in the first half of the year:
•   Lunch Box Project – this complimented our “Food” theme. A child from each class took turns making a post about their lunch. They used a tool like Fotobabble to narrate a picture of their lunch. Some great conversations got going in the comments on healthy eating, food preferences, cultural difference with food, food groups etc.
•   Our School – the students used tools like VoiceThread and video to show their American friends around their school. The students made posts about the play areas, library, office etc. The students were really interested to compare how school is the same and different in Australia and the US.

PROS – The students got to really connect with their blogging buddies and the blog provided a window into their lives. Skype was used to enhance this connection such as our Skype breakfast party. A lot of content was learnt about food, time zones, schools, geography. A lot of reflection and new ideas also arose.
CONS – We were working together and learning a lot but what for?

2010 – second half

Ugandan Global Project http://ugandanglobalproject.blogspot.com
This is an idea I came up with because I loved how my students were learning and connecting with their buddies overseas but I thought something was missing. I knew we could take it further. I wanted my students to be able to use these global connections for a greater good; to raise their social conscience, help others and learn more about the world in which they live.

In this project, we set up another blog and invited some of our blogging buddies to join in. We had two Australian classes, three American classes and one Chinese class involved all working together to help out a school in Uganda.

The students were sponsored by their family and friends and at 10am on Friday 22nd October, all the classes around the world ran/walked for one hour to earn their sponsorship money.

Throughout the project all the classes involved worked on various tasks to learn more about Uganda and put up posts on the blog on topics such as
•   A day in the life of a student in Australia/USA/China/Uganda
•   A traditional song in each country
•   The run/walk event in each location
•   Time zones
•   Currencies

Behind these posts, the commenting was fantastic! The students (all aged 7-9) were involved in some rich conversations.

This project raised $20,000 which is making an enormous difference in the lives of our Ugandan friends.

There are also incredible flow-on effects still happening. A group of Americans who followed our project blog decided to volunteer at the Ugandan school. There are around 20 of them in Uganda at the time of writing and they’re making an invaluable contribution. Additionally, a teacher who read about our project contacted the school founder asking how she can help. The possibilities of these after effects are endless.

I feel that one of the ultimate goals of being a global citizen is to be able to work together for a common good, be understanding of others and have a social conscience. Through blogging, my students are developing as effective global citizens and I’m so proud of what they are achieving! I can’t wait to see where we’ll go next…

What next?

Needless to say, I want my students to be involved in more global collaboration in the future. I think a mix of informal collaboration and more structured projects works well. We’re now at a point where we don’t need to look at projects organised by outside agencies as we are part of a large international blogging community.

When it comes to projects, I like the idea of working on some projects that are simply designed to increase student learning and global awareness, while also aiming for perhaps an annual big project (like the Ugandan Project) where the aims go beyond individual student learning.

How to get started

If you want your class to connect and collaborate globally, I recommend you read this post by Edna Sackson “10 Ways to Create Global Connections”

If you want to start in a more structured way like I did, there are many free and paid organisations co-ordinating global collaborative projects.

You might like to try…

http://www.globalschoolnet.org/

http://www.iearn.org.au/

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/penpals/

http://www.epals.com

http://www.ozprojects.edu.au

Good luck!

Thankyou Kathleen for sharing your knowledge, and providing the links to further information. As Kathleen says on her blog, please leave a comment if you would like to share your experiences with global collaboration.

Guest post – Books for boys

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Rachel

Barbara Braxton is an award winnng teacher librarian from Cooma, who has spent her time in schools in the ACT where she developed a primary school library that Jackie French once described as “the best I’ve ever seen”. In 2003, Barbara was awarded the Dromkeen National Librarian’s Award for her contribution to children’s literature for her online activities, particularly running book raps, Read Around Australia, and the Young Australian Readers’ Award. Barbara is also the author of professional articles and teachers’ books including the All you need to teach information literacy series published by Macmillan Education. Although ‘retired’, Barbara is currently undertaking her third masters degree through Charles Sturt University . As part of her research for an assignment, she asked the members of OZTL_NET for their suggestions for titles that would appeal to young teenage boys struggling with their reading. The following list of authors and titles is a collation of what was received, that Barbara has very kindly agreed to share with us.

Bauer, Michael Gerard

Brooks, Terry – Shannara series, Magic Kingdom of Landover series

Child, Lee – Jack Reacher series (although I would have thought these were
for an older audience)

Coates, Jimmy

Colfer, Eion – Artemis Fowl series and other titles

Collins, Suzanne – Hunger Games series

Collins, Tim – Diary of a Wimpy Vampire

Cowell, Cressida

Dashner, James – Jimmy Finchner saga

Delaney, Joseph – Last Apprentice

Eddings, David – The Belgariad

Ellis, Deborah – I am a Taxi, Sacred Leaf

Flanagan, John – Rangers Apprentice

Grant, Michael – Gone series

Griffiths, Andy – Just series

Grylls, Bear

Gwynne, Phillip – Swerve

Heath, Jack

Higson, Charlie

Hirsch, Odo

Hobb, Robin – Farseers

Horowitz, Alex

Kinney, Jeff – Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Landy, Derek – Skullduggery Pleasant

Lord, Gabrielle – 365 Conspiracy series

MacHale, D. J. – Pendragon series

Maloney, James – Book of Lies

Marsden. John – Tomorrow series

McNab, Andy

Measday, Stephen – Send Simon Savage

Metzenthen, David – Jarvis 24

Morphew, Chris – The Phoenix Files

Mowll, Joshua – The Guild of Specialists trilogy, esp in hardback

Mutchamore, Robert

Myers, Bill – Wally McDoogle

Nix, Garth – Mister Monday series, Keys to the Kingdom

Paolini , Chris- Inheritance Series

Patterson, James – Maximum Ride series

Reilly, Matthew

Riordan, Rick

Rodda, Emily – Deltora Quest

Ryan, Chris – Alpha Force

Sage, Ange – Septimus Heap

Scott, Michael – The Secret of Nicholas Flamel

Shan, Darren – Cirque du Freak, Demontia

Van der Ruit, John – Spud, The Madness Continues

Wilkinson, Carole – Dragonkeeper series

Wright, Joshua

Death Note and Naruto graphic novels; X-men; Maus I & II, Asterix

Series – Beast Quest, Zac Power, Midnighters (Westerfield), Specky Magee,
Panckridge sports novels, Goosebumps, Barrington Stoke; Quentaris
Chronicles; Adventures of Sherlock Homes;

Ripley’s Believe it or Not; Guinness Book of Records, Top Gear;

Agatha Christie

Bone

www.rhozbookraves.blogspot.com

comics (esp Marvel) & magazines

School Library Association of Victoria

Category Archives: Guest post

Guest post: Bravofiles with Andy G

Guest post: An international 3-way webchat for Gippsland youth

Guest post: Junior M’s blogging and global collaboration, by Michelle Scott

Guest post: Kleinspiration – technology treasures for today’s teachers, by Erin Klein

Guest Post: Integrating Australian Curriculum into units of work, by Lisa Hill

Guest post: Class blog ‘Learning Together’ by Marie Kennedy

Guest post: Kilbreda College Library by Louise McInerney

Guest post: Inside a Dog with Heath Graham

Guest post: Global collaboration by Kathleen Morris

A summary of how I progressed with global collaboration

2008

2009

2010 – first half

2010 – second half

What next?

How to get started

Good luck!

Guest post – Books for boys

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