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

3D Printing Explained

If you are not sure about how a 3D printer works, watch the video above that simply explains how it works.
In June, the Edutech Conference in Brisbane will be promoting the use of 3D printers in secondary schools. Check out the link below :

11Reasons To Use a 3D printer in Your School

Look Up:You Never Know Who You Will Meet!

It's rather ironical that a video about putting your gadgets away and connecting to the real world has now had over 32 million hits since it  was first released at the end of April. The 5 minute sentimental video called Look Up was produced by British filmmaker  Gary Turk. It is a poem about the more connected we become, the more time we spend alone. I can see this video  being an excellent resource to use at the start of any discussion about "digital nutrition" -getting the balance right!

Wanted: News Reporters

The latest ABC Splash online newsletter announced a great competition for all of our budding news reporters. Using their own mobile technologies, students create a 90 second news report around the theme" What we need to know about your community." Entries close on the 10th June. The best entries will feature on ABC online platforms in July. For more information,click on the image below.

Sign up for the ABC Splash fortnightly newsletter on its home page so you can find out about the new resources they add every day.

Sexting For Teens

La Trobe University has just released its latest National Survey of Australian Secondary Students and Sexual Health.Over 2000 16-18 year olds across Australia were interviewed and you will probably not be surprised by the findings. Researchers found that:

• 54.2% of students had received an explicit text
• 42.9% of students had sent an explicit text
• 45.1% of students had received a nude/near nude image
• 27.2% of students had sent a nude/near image of themselves

Of those who are sexually active, 84 per cent said they had received a sexually explicit text and 72 per cent said they had sent one.

Call me old fashioned but it makes me cringe to hear that the lead researcher, Professor Anne Mitchell, believes that sexting is now just a normal part of courtship. She does not believe that it should be decriminalised for people under the age of 18 but thinks it is unproblematic for the 18 plus.The survey also found that there were low rates of sexting used for cyber bullying.
For more information, check out below the  recent ABC 7:30 Report and the survey that was released in April

National Survey of Australian Secondary Students and Sexual Health 2013

Difference Differently

I have just come across this fantastic free online resource called Difference Differently. It is really worth checking out.It explores diversity and is nicely aligned to the Australian Curriculum, offering modules in Year 3-10 in

• English
• Geography
• Civics
• Citizenship

Modules are engaging with plenty of multimedia and interactive activities.There are also professional learning modules for teachers.

For more information, check out the website link above  and video below.