Hi there Skwirkers,
Only a few days remain before most of Australia heads back
to school for the start of Semester 2 (except for you over-eager types in
Queensland!). Meanwhile the phones are running hot at Skwirk HQ as we bring
schools and teachers online using the new site.
Skwirk 2.0 – now in
closed beta – site testers needed!
We’ve already commenced tutorials for the site and responses
to the new Lesson Planner tool has been overwhelming positive! If you are a
school teacher and would like to be one of the beta testers for our new site,
then please shoot us an email on teachers@skwirk.com.au.
Additionally, we are offering walkthroughs of the new site using Skype’s free ‘share
screen’ function to allow for the best possible site tutorial.
Meanwhile, the development team are putting the finishing
touches on the Assessment Builder, which will allow teachers to create their
own quizzes, cloze passages and extended responses for both existing Skwirk
content and self-devised content. We expect these features to be live on the
site within the next few weeks.
Another core decision has been to provide teachers with
access to the raw HTML of the pages they create and manipulate. This will
enable teachers to include a variety of HTML objects (images that function as
links, any web video that provides an embed code). Teachers interested in
developing some HTML skills should have a look at Code Academy, whilst those just needing a
leg up can use this HTML ‘cheat sheet’ to
get them started.
EduTECH articles now
online over at ABC Technology and Games website
Along with being your fearless Education Content Manager,
since 2010 I’ve had a semi-regular gig writing articles for the ABC’s Technology and Games website about
technology and education. Our time at the EduTECH conference left me with
enough material to write a two-part article about the highlights and focal
points of the conference. Both articles are now up, you can find part one here
and part two, which includes a discussion about the role that the NBN could
play in the future of education, is here.
Skwirk Surveys and
winner of June’s prize draw
We continue to have a strong response to the online survey
we have asked teachers who are have trials of the site to complete. Over 87% of
our teachers passed the trial access into other teachers within the school, and
we continue to get great feedback regarding our resources – “interesting,
bright, engaging”…“activities that involved even a reluctant student” – and our
home-grown content - “It’s great to hear the Australian accent on an educational
film”.
If you are a teacher currently trialling the Skwirk site,
PLEASE take the time to fill out the survey when you receive the email – in
addition to receiving an extra two weeks of access to the site, you go into our
monthly prize draw. This month’s winner is Di
Allen from Hallet Cove School in South Australia. Congratulations Di! You
have won a $50 voucher for your choice of JB Hifi, Officeworks or Eckersleys
Art Store. We’ll be in touch later this week.
Podcast of the week –
Background Briefing
The Australian Curriculum for English includes a
re-classification of text types, formally shifting to the more inclusive
categories of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts. Radio National’s
weekly current affairs program is an outstanding example of meticulously
researched, carefully presented material that is easily approachable for
Secondary students. Each program can be streamed or downloaded in mp3 format, and
includes a full transcript and links to
sources and related articles.
Video of the week – Life In A Day
On July 24th, 2010, people all over the world
uploaded videos to YouTube detailing the events of their day. The resulting
footage was carefully whittled down from over 4500 hours (over 188 days!) to a 95-minute documentary, capturing the
lives of everyday people in over 190 countries. Life In A Day is an amazing
spin around the planet, mixing the mundane with the remarkable. The link above
takes you to a YouTube microsite that hosts the full movie, along with an
archive of the separate clips and a short ‘one year later’ catch-up with some
of the more colourful characters in the film.
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