Hi Skwirkers,
Well, here we are already nearing the end of Term 1 (how did
that happen?). I hope you enjoyed the long weekend over the Easter period and
haven’t eaten too much chocolate! Things are rolling along at Skwirk HQ, March
saw a number of brand-new schools sign up for whole-school memberships, and a
spike in teacher subscriptions. Welcome aboard to all of you!
Our mighty General Manager spent all of last week onsite
with the development team for the new website and has come back incredibly
excited about everything it has to offer. I’m personally looking forward to the
new system for adding and updating site content, which I was told is ‘as easy
as updating the blog’.
Great new media content for Stage 4 Science
The Science content for Years 7 and 8 includes units across
Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth & Environmental Science. Our
‘Ecology’ unit is a monster – over 12,000 words spread across 16 chapters, with
plenty of cross-curriculum connections for Geography. We’re adding a heap of new media to this, including dozens
of hi-resolution images, animations and videos, including content from the ABC.
If you’re subscribed as a high-school teacher or student, head over and have a
look!
Achievement unlocked – achievements!
Just before I started writing this I hit ‘send’ on the email
containing the first 20 achievements that will be a part of the new Skwirk
site. These achievements will cover a range of activities on the site and will be
TOP SECRET on the launch date. The only way to unlock achievements will be by using
the new site and looking around. And yes, there will be some prizes!
Professor Plum Rewards
Our recent additions to the Skwirk Store have been a huge
success with all of the Liquifly
Rockets and Construct-a-Clocks
being claimed in a matter of days! Our friends at Professor Plum’s were delighted
and will be providing us with more ace stuff in the coming months. Don’t forget
that if you live in the Sydney area and are looking for some fun activities for
the coming school holidays, the Professor Plum team runs science workshops that
you can check out here.
Skwirk at the 2013 EduTECH conference
EduTECH is the largest education technology event in
Australia. With over 3000 delegates from all states and territories coming
together to hear from the likes of Alan
November and Sir Ken
Robinson. The Skwirk team is delighted to announce that we will be at the
conference in force, showcasing the new Skwirk site and demonstrating
everything that you can achieve with Skwirk. If you are going to the
conference, please swing by and say hello!
Website of the week – The Opera House Project
The Sydney Opera House has always had a great sense of
history. In 2011 the Ships Song
Project combined an intimate look at the famous building with an all-star
cover of the legendary Nick Cave song. 2013 is the 40th anniversary
of Australia’s most iconic building and the SOH has teamed up with partners
including the State Library and the National Film and Sound Archive to create a
stunning virtual site tour. The website includes full-length documentaries,
interactive timelines and 3d modelling of the building at every stage of
construction.
App of the week – WWF Together for
iPad
The WWF is a global voice for endangered animals of all
shapes and sizes. They’ve released a lovely app that provides stories,
information and gorgeous images of a broad range of these at-risk creatures.
Every fortnight a new animal is unlocked, many with unique features – try using
your iPad camera for ‘Tiger Vision’.
For an added bit of fun each animal is rendered in origami, along with
instructions on how to fold your own! The WWF Together app is now available on
the iPad. It’s free!
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