Finding Your Passion

Peter and Alma Ries can be justly proud of their son, Alex, who is the illustrator of the recently released  Zoobots: wild robots inspired by real animals. Max Toms will also be chuffed as Alex studied Graphics with Max in 2000 and 2001.After leaving Gippsland Grammar, Alex attended Melbourne University, graduating with a Bachelor of Creative Arts Studies. Since that time he has worked in the video games industry and some of his illustrations have been published in Cosmos magazine and on the Discovery Channel.

Alex has collaborated with Canadian award winning author, Helaine Becker, to produce this book for younger readers that explores the world of robo - animals or zoobots.The inspiration comes from emerging technology as  roboticists are currently looking at ways of mirroring  the unique skills of animals in robot form. In the book, twelve zoobots have been described and Alex's accompanying illustrations with the text are stunning and inspiring. Also his passion for zoology, biology and technology is just so evident in these artworks.
This book is an excellent resource for our teachers, both primary and secondary, as it could be used in many ways in the classroom. What a great reference for those studying the impact of technology on society, robotics and inventions. The ISC has a copy of Zoobots and it is now available for loan.

Peter tells me that there is talk of Zoobots becoming a television series in Canada so  it is exciting just imagining what lies ahead for Alex.

The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things was identified by the 2014 Horizon Report to be one of the  emerging technology trends for education within the next five years. You may well ask what is the Internet of Things? One definition is that it is the combination of people, process, data and things all coming together in an intelligent way.Still not sure? The video below goes along way in  explaining what it is all about.

NASA and Khan Academy Collaborate

NASA and Khan Academy last month debuted a series of online tutorials designed to increase student interest in science, technology, maths and engineering.

"The interactive education lessons invite users to become actively engaged in the scientific and mathematical protocols that NASA uses everyday to measure our universe, to explore the exciting engineering challenges involved in launching and landing spacecraft on Mars, and to learn about other space exploration endeavors and destinations."

 

These online resources are free to use at  https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/nasa

That Sinking Feeling

From my Twitter feed this week has come this fantastic sculpture by Issac Cordal in Berlin called "Politicians discussing global warming"

AITSL's Classroom Practice Continuum

AITSL has just developed a Classroom Practice Continuum and a supporting resource guide that " supports classroom observation practices by providing a basis for collaborative conversations, improvement focused feedback and directions for continued learning and growth."
It has been developed because teachers, like students need to know what their own learning pathways look like. It brings the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers to life, identifying what teachers at various levels of expertise do in their classroom. Using the Continuum, teachers can see what it looks like to improve classroom practices and its consequent impact on student learning.

Watch the video below for more information.




The Looking at Classroom Practice resource guide supports the Continuum and will assist  all Australian school educators  in unpacking and engaging with the Continuum. This resource guide will help you to develop a greater understanding of the nature of expertise. It also outlines various observation procedures and guides the reader in the development of protocols for observation.

To access the continuum and resource guide click the image at the top of the post

How To Adopt New Habits

Are you an Upholder, a Questioner, a Rebel or an Obliger? You will find Gretchin Rubin's TedTalk presentation very interesting. Gretchin is the author of the Happiness Project and in the course of writing Before and After  has come up with a four character framework  that affect our ability to adapt to change, work together and learn.
She sorts everyone into four categories which describe how people tend to respond to expectations. Her four categories are:

Upholders:  They  respond readily to outer and inner expectations
Questioners: They question all expectations; they’ll meet an expectation if they think it makes sense
Rebels: They resist all expectations, outer and inner alike
Obligers: They meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves

 Response to expectations is apparently very important  for your habits and many aspects of your life.She stresses the importance of understanding  not only how  you operate but also the work patterns and styles of others around you. I hope you can find time to watch the video above. Not only is it interesting but it may allow you to come to a better understanding of how we are all unique and bring different skills, knowledge and qualities to the various teams we belong to.

Evaluating Web Content

On our ISC Libguide, there are now lots of  useful resources that  support the teaching of  digital and information literacy skills. Check out the  Web Literacy section  in  Teacher Support  and the Research tab  to find these resources. Research shows that although many students are technically savvy, many are digitally illiterate. They have difficulty in making sense of  information and with the overload of information it has never been more important for them to have the necessary skills to pick the "trash from the treasure". The ISC  has promoted the "CRAAP" method for evaluating information  and so when  I came across this article from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning  that explains how to use  the CRAAP strategy I was most interested. As stated in the article, "learning how to evaluate online content is an essential step in the process of developing digitally literate students".The CRAAP method has five elements

• Currency
• Relevance
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose

 This Slide Share  link and the video below have both been put into the Teacher Support section on the ISC Libguide and are well worth showing to our students.

 

 

Internet Evaluation - The CRAAP Test from Lisa Hartman