Melbourne Mini Maker Faire in March

Posted on March 2, 2016 by SLAV Connects

A Mini Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine to “celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset” (Wikipedia). 3D printing, arduino electronics, coding and Maker activities have come a long way in the three years since the first Melbourne Mini Maker Faire was held at Swinburne University in 2012.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) has entered the curriculum, the Hour of Code has been adopted worldwide and 3D printers have transitioned from being items of awe to common items in many schools, both primary and secondary. These new tools are providing students with opportunities for hands-on application of science and technology as authentic tools for learning and Makerspaces in schools and libraries have become new spaces for learning.

It’s with great excitement, therefore, that we greet the announcement of 2016 Melbourne Mini Maker Faire!

Date: Saturday 19 March, 10am – 4pm

Location: KIOSC @ Swinburne University of Technology, 369 Stud Road, Wantirna 3152

Cost: Gold Coin Donation‌

The Victorian Department of Education and Training in association with the Knox Innovation Opportunity and Sustainability Centre (KIOSC) and Swinburne University of Technology are planning this exciting experience by providing a snapshot of what our future may look like.

The program will include: workshops by inventors and makers, demonstrations of cutting edge technologies, hands on activities for children and adults, nutritious food vendors and musical entertainment

Register as a Maker, Volunteer, Sponsor or an Attendee, today!
For information please visit the Melbourne Maker Faire website.

This video by Mat Bettinson of the 2012 Melbourne Mini Maker Faire provides you with an idea of what to expect at a Maker Faire.
Use these links to stimulate your imagination and begin an exploration of Maker Faires worldwide.

New Australian STEM resources hub

Posted on February 28, 2016 by SLAV Connects

ABC Splash is a source of high-quality digital educational content specifically developed for the Australian learning community. This week they launched the Splash STEM Hub which addresses “Science, Technology, Education and Maths” learning for students in Years Prep/Foundation to Year 10. The site contains experiments, teaching ideas, and interviews with scientists, engineers in partnership with organisations such as CSIRO, RiAus and the Australian National University. It brings real world science and people working in science and technology fields into the classroom.

To celebrate the launch of the new STEM hub, ABC Splash is conducting a prize draw that you enter by simply subscribing to the new STEM newsletter. Two great prizes for the winners are three sphero rolling robots, one prize for primary and one for secondary. What a marvellous incentive to sign up to receive what is a great prize in itself – regular science education news and updates!

All ABC Splash resources are free to watch and play at home and in school and are guaranteed to spark discussion and promote curiosity. The Splash portal is a world-class education experience for Australian students, and is packed with thousands of videos, audio clips, games and interactive tools. Teachers and teacher librarians are especially encouraged to sign up for the primary, secondary and now the STEM newsletters. Promote them to your students and their families, they’ll love them.

eBooks & eResources – sharing experience

Posted on January 29, 2016 by SLAV Connects

As we commence the new school year, it’s timely to share this guest post from SLAV Council Member Julie Pagliaro. In this post Julie, teacher librarian at St Kevin’s College, Waterford Library, reflects on the School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) Workshop – eBooks and eResources held last term. The management of digital resources is a complex matter for school libraries, made easier by sharing successful examples of practice through workshops such as this.

From Julie:

The School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) Workshop – eBooks and eResources was an engaging day with everything that you have ever wondered about eBooks and eResources being addressed. David Feigham, Information and Library Services Manager from Mentone Girls’ Grammar School, set the scene, with his inspiring knowledge and experience on how to implement best practice strategies in this area of our library collections. Practical ideas followed on how to incorporate Kindles, how to promote ebooks and the importance of keeping usage records. Julia Petrov from St Patrick’s College, Ballarat emphasised that eresources should always be no more than three clicks away and we must make it easy for our users. The provision of ebooks and eresources requires flexible and creative thinking on the part of library staff. By working together, we will be in a stronger position to know what works and how to achieve the best deal for our schools.

Presentations and notes from the conference will be available via the member’s area of the SLAV website.

General Points

Advantages of eBooks and eResources – they’re private, can’t be lost, instant, great for when a book is in high demand and you don’t want to buy multiple copies of it, content can often be differentiated according to different learning standards e.g., Online Britannica has low, medium and high levels
People still want print books over eBooks
EBook usage seems to be higher than NF. When we chose to introduce fiction eBooks first did we have the order wrong?
Provision of eBooks and eResources is higher in the Independent and Catholic sectors. It is concerning, that government schools are falling behind in this area.
One often repeated view, was that as a profession, we need to work together with our vendors in order to ensure we meet the needs of our students and staff.
Sometimes it is unwise to purchase outright. Consider more flexible options such as leasing.
Publishers are not the same and they often and do change their eBook licensing agreements. We must learn to manage this.
Don’t expect one provider to meet all of your eLearning needs.
Know your usage of eResources and examine whether you are meeting your school’s needs.
Access to your resources should be no more than three clicks.

You are invited to share your knowledge of ebooks and eresources via a ‘comment’.

Image source: Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/tribehut/8091234505

Social media and reputation preservation!

Posted on October 23, 2015 by SLAV Connects

This week Victorian media has been alive with the news of AFL (Australian Football League) recruit, Jake Carlisle, shown in a social media video where he appears to be snorting a line of white powder. Leaked to the general media a day after he’d been signed to a new football club, this video actually came from the footballer’s own mobile phone and was distributed via his own SnapChat account. A thoughtless action that has exposed his behaviour to the world and tarnished his reputation forever.

This is just one of the incidents our Year 9 Coordinator and I discussed today as we planned a digital citizenship program for Year 9 boys. It’s essential that students have the opportunity to learn these skills. To be effective, however, lessons should not be solely instruction or a one-off presentation from a visiting speaker, but should include time for students to have conversations with their peers. They need time to exchange experiences and to clarify their own held beliefs if the message is to ‘stick’.

Enhancing Online Safety is the new website of the Australian Government – Office of the eSafety Commissioner. It replaces the very popular ACMA Cyber[Smart] website and includes all the materials from that site. This is an excellent resource for teaching digital citizenship to students at any year level. Lesson plans and resources are organised in age-appropriate categories with videos and linked descriptions.

For example, the page Games, apps and social media: quick guide to social media sites and apps has links to 50+ sites popular with young people. Knowledge and open discussion is easier when backed by quality information and this new site is a wealth of information. Voluntary teacher certification is also available and will appeal to teachers who wish to build their own skills for teaching a digital citizenship program.

Enhancing Online Safety is a highly recommended resource. The site is extensive and growing. I suggest using the site map to support your exploration. Students need to hear this message often and from many different angles if they are to become responsible in their online communications. Digital citizenship instruction doesn’t address their behaviour but at least it may give them the chance to save their reputation for the time when they have matured and have their behaviour under control.

Top Tools for Learning 2015

Posted on October 6, 2015 by SLAV Connects

Last week Jane Hart, founder of the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies released the 2015 Top 10 Tools for Learning. Now in its ninth year, this list is a creditable indicator of trends in the top online learning tools used worldwide. It has been compiled from the votes of over 2,000 individuals from 63 countries, working in different roles in education and workplace learning.

For the 7th consecutive year, Twitter is the most popular learning tool but it is now closely followed by Youtube. The closing of this gap is not surprising as students will tell you, if they want to learn how to do something they head for Youtube. Statistics indicate that the number of people watching YouTube each day has increased by 40% y/y since March 2014.

Top of the list are Twitter, Youtube, Google Search, Google Docs/Drive, Powerpoint and Dropbox. Screencast-O-Matic has returned to the Top 100 at 27th place after last appearing in 2011 at position 82. This is perhaps a reflection of its popularity as a video creating tool for Flipped Learning and assessment feedback in the classroom.

Amongst the tools moving off the list in 2015 are: Hootsuite, Zite, Voicethread, Flickr, Storify, Glogster Edu, Tumblr, Wikispaces, Pearltrees, Voki and Paperli.

It’s surprising that Flipboard has not yet made the list but its time will come, no doubt. Check out Jane’s presentation with the full run down of the Top 10 Tools for Learning 2015 and associated resources yourself for a wealth of popular learning tools.

Source: Image

Virtual reality fieldtrips with Google Expeditions – register

Posted on September 30, 2015 by SLAV Connects

The Google Cardboard virtual reality (VR) headset was launched onto the market in July 2014. At the time the headsets only worked with Android phones and there were a limited number of apps available. From these humble beginnings they have grown into a range of different headsets that support most mobile phones and offer a growing choice of apps.

This week the humble headset has made a giant leap into the classroom with the announcement of Google Expeditions, the virtual reality teaching tool built with Google Cardboard. With Google Expeditions, teachers will be able to to choose from 100+ virtual fieldtrips to places like Mars, the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Wall of China.

To facilitate the introduction of Expeditions, Google will be visiting thousands of schools around the world with the kit of required equipment for teachers to use in their classes for the day. Australia is one of the first countries to be offered this exciting opportunity with visits available during September and October. If you are interested in a visit for your school, register via the Expeditions Pioneer Program.

IFLA School Library Guidelines

Posted on August 19, 2015 by SLAV Connects

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the library and information profession. To this end, it is important that school library professionals acquaint themselves with the recently published IFLA School Library Guidelines (2nd ed).

In recent years many school libraries have come under the spotlight as principals balance the budget of cost against return. In some instances qualified library trained personnel have been taken from the library and redeployed elsewhere in the school, while other school libraries have continued to expand and grow. One of the keys to this change has been the ability of library staff to innovate and adapt to the changing nature of schooling, learning and resources.

In producing these guidelines, IFLA provides recommendations that can guide the discussion about your school library. As they state:

“These guidelines have been developed to assist school library professionals and educational decision-makers in their efforts to ensure that all students and teachers have access to effective school library programs and services, delivered by qualified school library personnel.”

IFLA make a number of recommendations that warrant close reading. Two of these resonate loudly as core programs and the collaborative partnerships required to achieve them, namely:

Recommendation 13. The core instructional activities of a school librarian should be focused on: literacy and reading promotion; media and information literacy instruction; inquiry-based teaching; technology integration; and professional development of teachers. [5.2-5.7]

Recommendation 14. The services and programs provided through the school library should be developed collaboratively by a professional school librarian working in concert with the principal, with curriculum leaders, with teaching colleagues, with members of other library groups, and with members of cultural, linguistic, indigenous, and other unique populations to contribute to the achievement of the academic, cultural, and social goals of the school. [3.5, 3.5.4, 5.1-5.8]

The positive impact of a well functioning school library on student achievement has been extensively studied over the years. We need to be in a constant state of review and self-appraisal if our school libraries are to adapt to changing needs in schools. It’s not easy, but these guideline are a useful tool to support that process.

#SLAVConf – It’s a Digital World

Posted on August 13, 2015 by SLAV Connects

Last Friday, 7 August, 180 delegates met at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne for the School Library Association of Victoria (SLAV) conference – It’s a digital world. Conferences such as these are exceptionally important for the school library community as they are showcases of the change that is actively happening in many dynamic school libraries. Perspectives of the James Merlino MP, Minister for Education and Deputy Premier and Principal, Marco Di Cesare, Caroline Chisholm Catholic College who was SLAV School Leader of the Year 2014, were particularly relevant.

This Storify captures some of the Twitter conversations from presentations and workshops. Not all, because not all sessions were tweeted out by delegates, however, this collection offers an overview of links and ideas on the day.

Presentations and notes from the conference will be available via the members area of the SLAV website soon.

VCE English: Encountering Conflict

Posted on August 9, 2015 by SLAV Connects

ABC Radio is renowned for its podcasts, with most ABC broadcasting now available for anywhere/anytime listening. The full list of programs and listening option can be found on the ABC podcasting page.

For a number of years, local Melbourne ABC 774 broadcaster Libbi Gorr has presented a gem of a program on Sundays appropriately entitled Sunday School. It’s a must for VCE English students, as Libbi joins with English teachers in discussion and commentary on texts, exam preparation support and topics relating to the subject.

In this sample broadcast of Sunday School: Encountering Conflict, Christine Lambrianidis, English Learning Leader at Point Cook Senior Secondary College, joined Libbi to discuss ‘how human trafficking and slavery can affect Australians through the food we eat, clothing we wear and the services we engage.’

Christine related these key issues back to the VCE theme ‘Encountering Conflict’ and also extracted examples from the film ‘A Separation’ directed by Asghar Farhadi which is one of the optional VCE English texts.

This embedded file is from Soundcloud, however, it can just as easily be downloaded via iTunes. Check with your VCE students to ensure they’re not missing out on this supportive resource.

https://soundcloud.com/774-abc-melbourne/sunday-school-encountering-conflict-theme

Learning professionally with Google+ Communities

Posted on June 14, 2015 by SLAV Connects

Google educator Kimberley Hall recently presented a full day workshop for School Library Assoc of Victoria. For some delegates it was a glimpse into the possibilities of the Google Apps for Education (GAFE) tool-base, for others it was an opportunity to enhance their existing knowledge with the leadership of a dynamic trainer.

Educational institutions, from primary to secondary schools, through to universities, are now using GAFE, so skill in managing the range of tools such as Google Docs, Tables, Presentations and the indispensable Google Forms with confidence is essential. The value lies in streamlining and managing workflows and documentation within the library, plus the ability to be a learning support resource for students.

Ample support material is available online and Google for Education is a good place to start. The sites of trainers such as Kimberley, Chris Betcher and Jim Sill are just a few of the training sites bursting with tutorials and ideas.

Google tools range from Docs, to search strategies, to Google maps, Youtube videos and the new Google Photos. However, learning is a social process and occurs readily through active engagement with peers. Learning, for all of us, is about collaboration and the boundaries preventing this from happening have disintegrated. Joining Google Communities is recommended as a collaborative learning space that will put you in touch with like-minded professionals.

Teacher librarian, Heather Bailie, in her recent blog post Get connected with Google+ – a digital artefact presented a video profile of a ‘connected educator’ that includes instructions on how to get started with Google Communities. Whilst mailing lists have been used as professional points of exchange for many years, it’s time to consider moving onto tools such as Google+ Communities.
Some groups are private but most are public and open to all comers.

We are presently trialling Google Communities as an alternative option from Facebook discussion groups for senior students. The interface is much less distracting than Facebook and I believe it’s is only a matter of time before Google Communities becomes a common learning tool as schools extend their use of the GAFE suite. Here’s an opportunity to put yourself ahead of the curve – be courageous and move on from mailing lists!

School Library Association of Victoria

Author Archives: SLAV Connects