Tech Tips Tuesday

This Week's Tip: Resources at your Fingertips

Last week I realised that there are great resources at my fingertips that I haven't checked out for quite some time. These resources should be that first point of call for Australian teachers, but I've fallen into the trap of going to Google first. Many of the resources on these sites contain Australia-specific material, however there are still many projects and resources that people outside of Australia will be interested in exploring.

Edna
Edna has recently had an upgrade and is now more useful than ever. The people at edna.edu.au do all the searching for you, so that you can find the good stuff quickly. And, if you find something they're missing, you're encouraged to let them know so that they can add it to their collection. I became reaquainted with it at last week's mini conference, so you can watch this quick video to find out how to access the resources you need.


Global Education
Edna have a special section allocated to global education. These resources support the integration of a global perspective across the curriculum. Here you can get articles with facts and background information on topics relating to global issues. One of the highlights (as far as I'm concerned) is the Teaching Tools section where you can access case studies, projects, quizes, activities and learning quests.

Liked these? Check out more Tech Tips.

Edna Mini-Conference

Bridges, Global Education, e-Portfolios and Web Conferencing

Image: Going out on a limb by Penny Ryder

On Wednesday I presented for an Edna Mini-Conference. Edna stands for 'Education Network Australia'. They search for, review and provide a number of online educational resources of particular interest to Australian teachers.

During the day, Pru Mitchell, Cecily Wright and Concetta Gotlieb shared about the services Edna offers and discussed some of the resources and tools that we might want to use in our classrooms. It was a particularly informative conference and I left with a lot of ideas bouncing around my mind.

I was quite nervous about presenting, so luckily was able to do my part early and then enjoy learning for the rest of the day. I presented on Building Bridges between home and school using email, blogging, podcasting and other online learning environments for students.

After that, I attended a session on Global Education resources (see Tech Tips Tuesday next week for more information). I then attended a session on e-portfolios, followed by a session on web conferencing.

I'm not sold on e-portfolios yet - I'd like to see more information about their effectiveness. I would love to be able to use an e-portfolio myself, to strengthen my position in a job interview, however employers don't seem to be looking for this.

One thing I really like about e-portfolios is the focus on students being the ones to select and reflect on the items contained in it. I would like to find a way to make this task truly student self-directed and self-managed. Maybe I could create a class folder of photographs that students could use to create their e-portfolio in the form of a PhotoStory. This doesn't strictly fit the description of an e-portfolio, but may be a valuable reflection tool all the same.

I'm still trying to work up the courage to do some more with web conferencing too. Skype is not currently accessible at school, but there's really nothing stopping me from exploring it further with other teachers at home. Maybe I could 'sit in the chatroom' for an episode of Ed Tech Talk these holidays. I think I'm ready to step outside my comfort zone again!

As you can see, the Edna Mini-Conference was quite inspiring and motivating. I really enjoyed the opportunities to network with other local teachers across educational sectors. It was great to see how Edna is being used in such diverse ways and to meet needs of learners of all ages. It was particularly fun to meet one of my tweeps (Twitter people) who I had only 'chatted' with previously. Thanks Edna for a great day!

If you would like to read about other Professional Development I have attended, click here.

4th Teaching K-6 Blog Carnival

Welcome to the April edition of the Teaching K-6 carnival. This month I had a great response from bloggers who were busy writing great articles. With this month's edition comes a new category for blogs that gripe or brag about things that are happening in the classroom. We have lots of innovative ideas for teaching and thought-provoking articles to inspire you. Thank you to all the contributors for this month. Enjoy, and please, spread the word.

Gripes and Brags

In The Last Zebra the Professor encourages people to keep children's safety in mind by keeping them close. He offers suggestions on how he has succeeded with this with his own children at Professor of Protection.

Gerald Aungst shares ideas for Keeping Kids Focused at Quisitivity.org. He encourages teachers to accept that doodling assists with concentration during teacher-led discussions and points to research that suggests this may be a coping strategy for gifted students.

At My English Pages, Mohammed Rhalmi presents Teach with love and logic- Breaking the ice! He gives suggestions on how teachers can create a positive, caring environment for students. His 'ice breaking tips' are sensible ideas to help teachers to develope mutual respect with their students.

Dana, a homeschooling mum, presents What my daughter has learned through blogging posted at Principled Discovery. She shares about her daughter's learning successes with starting up a blog and creating a science e-zine with multiple contributors.

Innovate - Beyond the Slate

Remember the ant farm of yesteryear? C Merrick presents Gel Ant Farm - A Space Age Habitat For Ants posted at Gel Ant Farms. If you've ever considered becoming a myrmecologist, or want to provide that opportunity to your students, be sure to check out these gel ant farms!

This month at Keeping Kids First, Kelly Hines challenges us to openly explore new learning with our students. Rather than simply go by the book, she encourages us to venture Off the Beaten Path and create learning experiences that are highly memorable to students.

While most of the content of this carnival is focused on K-6 education, Fiona Lohrenz shares some Ideas For Day Care Activities And Games posted at Child Care Only. These ideas are great for developing skills in the early years and engaging children's curiosity.

In these times of great economic crisis, we are all sadly searching for ways to save money and prepare students to act responsibly with finances. Debbie Ducker presents Your Children and Grandchildren Must Learn to Save Money posted at Ducker Promotion Ezine, saying, "Teach your children how to save money at an early age and you will save them a lifetime of heartache."

Meaghan Montrose presents some simple ideas on using flash cards in Effective Learning Strategies and Study Skills- Part 2 | posted at Tutorfi.com.

In the News

How are you a teacher-feminist? Have you noticed the impact of gender, race, and other social schemata in your classroom? Educatorblog presents Ways of the Teacher-Feminist: Text, schema, and stereotypes, oh my! posted at An (aspiring) Educator's Blog. Take the time to read and reflect on this article and consider its impact for your own teaching philosophy and pedagogy.

Chris Mauger has taken a closer look at the development of healthy self-esteem. In Kids and Self-Esteem: Avoiding a Culture of Proud Failures posted at Maugeritaville he encourages us to provide opportunities to try and try again. Chris sees the value in helping students to achieve success for themselves rather than stepping in to do it for them.

This month I present my Thoughts on Globalisation here at Teaching Challenges. I share my personal experiences of globalisation in terms of applying for and obtaining a job in an overseas school.

Brain Strain

This month's brain strain is The Iowa series - Wrap-up posted at Dangerously Irrelevant. It's actually not a hard read this month, and contains lots of great diagrams and videos to present information visually. Scott McLeod provides a brilliantly informative resource discussing the future of education. He introduces five 'levers' to move schools forward and help students thrive and survive in this digital age. This is a resource I would confidently recommend to anyone interested in bringing about change in our schools and making them sustainable in an uncertain future.

Look No Further

Sarah Scrafford presents a helpful resource in 100 Free Online Books Everyone Should Read posted at Best Colleges Online. Here you can link to many of the classics including favourites like "Alice in Wonderland" and "Treasure Island". Her 50 Awesome Open Courseware Classes on Space & Astronomy posted at Rated Colleges may help you to touch-up on your own knowledge as you prepare to teach students about space. (I know I'll be checking it out!)

Erika Collin has gone all out with tips for Twitter this month. Her 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Librarians on Twitter posted at Learn-gasm, and Top 100 Tools for the Twittering Teacher posted at Best Colleges Online will keep you twittering away all those spare moments.

Margaret Garcia presents 100 Best Web Tools and Tips to Organize Your Inbox posted at Radiology Technician Schools. Prior to reading this post, I never realised there was so much one can do with email. If email is getting the best of you, check out this post!

Why not submit your post for the next carnival?

The Teaching K-6 Carnival is posted monthly on the 7th. I am collecting submissions throughout the month, looking in particular for posts that discuss and exemplify innovative teaching and the integration of technology in the K-6 classroom. I also invite a few "brain strains" to keep our minds alert and challenged. Please submit only articles of which you are the author and refrain from using this merely as a sales pitch. For full details, please read my call for submissions.

If you have a relevant post that you would like to submit to the next edition of teaching k-6 carnival use our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Support this Carnival

If you enjoyed this edition of the carnival, you can support its continuation by sharing it with others. Link to us, add us to a tweet, stumble or digg us. Thanks!

Thoughts on Globalisation

I am currently undertaking a Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership. We have been reading about globalisation and I thought I would share my ideas with readers here as well as my colleagues.

In Chapter 12 of Education, Change and Society, Nigel Bagnall defines globalisation and addresses some of the impacts of globalisation on power, culture and the economy. He prompts us to consider implications for education. He mentions the "shrinking of the world as technology and the travel industry make it possible to be physically anywhere in a short period of time, and virtually anywhere anytime". He also shares two interviews with Australian teachers who were trained in Australia but were teaching in countries outside of Australia.

I have personally experienced this "shrinking of the world". I have many friends who taught in the UK, one who taught in Tanzania, and I too taught overseas. While I never planned to travel with my teaching, in 2006 I found myself searching for teaching jobs in New York City. Having returned from a 17-day holiday in the USA (4 days of which were in New York City), my husband suggested that we spend a year living in New York City. Thinking this was a throw-away line, I ignored it. But as time passed, our interest in New York grew, and I realised that there would be no ignoring it.

I began to investigate the process online and found that because of (but not part of) the USA-Australia Free Trade Agreement made between our government and the US government, Australians have access to a special working visa (E3). The difficulty behind this visa is that you need to have been offered a job prior to obtaining the visa. Impossibility at one point in time, but now made possible through the use of the internet. I used Craig's List and the New York Times Online to search for jobs in New York City.

More internet research ensued. I began taking digital workshops through the PAEC Teacher to Teacher Initiative. Through these workshops I developed a greater understanding of the latest ideas in teaching in the USA. I began applying some of these ideas to my own teaching in Australia. Even specific courses required to teach in New York government schools could be taken online. Unfortunately, at the time, I found it too difficult to apply for government schools as I was required to sit exams (two months apart) in New York City prior to beginning. From what I understand, this requirement has since changed.

I changed my search to private schools and used Go City Kids to search for and contact schools. After quite some time, I found a school that was interested in exploring things further. After a phone interview and many more documents sent via email, I was offered a position and my journey began.

My husband used online resources to find us an apartment. We checked out reviews on different areas and could see locations using Google Earth. By the time we actually arrived we had everything lined up and had quite a good idea of what we were walking into, having only previously spent 4 days in the city!

I taught kindergarten in a private school with a Classical Christian Education philosophy. We were located just two blocks south of Central Park. (You can read more about the adventure at New York, New York.) Whilst teaching at this school I stuck very closely to their curriculum and was amazed by what my students could achieve from this structured format. It gave me new insight into the capabilities of young children.

Now back in Australia, I try to combine the best of both worlds. I continue to access online resources from around the world to develop my skills and strategies. I connect with other teachers - both in Australia and beyond - through social networking tools. Through these communities we discuss and explore ideas relating to education and share strategies to enhance our teaching.

Globalisation has opened new doors and experiences to me that previously wouldn't have been possible. While I agree that not all aspects of globalisation are beneficial and that there is not equal distribution of the benefits, I feel that my life has been changed for the better through this experience as has the education of my students.