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Using OneNote in the Classroom

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I prepared an episode of the video seminar I conduct at work called smoothies. These are short 15 minute webinars aimed at passing on a tip or two for our ICT teachers in our schools. Although aimed at primary school ICT teachers, I really enjoy the input received from dedicated ICT managers in the higher education schools.

I had a chance to visit a primary school and see firsthand the interaction between teacher, student and a large presentation screen controlled by notebooks on the network. Although this alone represented a considerable amount of investment it made me think about the software application that could be used to both present, collaborate, review, mark and return work without the need for cables or emails.

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Teaching your kids about financial literacy (and maybe yourself)

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Scott Pape, the barefoot investor, is the name on the lips of many people trying to manage their finances. Another name, ASIC’s Moneysmart is also a great resource for teaching both young and old about financial matters we all look back on and wish we’d either listened more or followed advice… Unfortunately when I was growing up there were no free webinars about financial management or barefoot investors to explain things in simple terms.

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Education Services Australia (ESA) Cool sites for students and teachers

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ESA build and maintain some great websites. Scootle is probably the best known, but here are some links to other great sites they curate… The Digital Technologies Hub and Student Wellbeing Hub are additions to the stable of websites including the myfuture, Scootle, and SCIS websites which have continued to provide and improve their services. … Read more

Home Automation – first step – Go to Bunnings

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With all the hype around home automation, flying cars and robots greeting you in restaurants, I thought I would resist the urge, but then one day I went to Bunnings, that ultimate man-cave where many a dad and husband can be seen wandering the aisles (pc link here). I strayed into the lighting aisle after snapping up a bargain on a desk lamp (with LED globe) for 4 dollars and I thought about a problem I have in Darwin with a dark area between my garage and my back sliding door.

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Upgrading my TAE qualification

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First mistake… Don’t use unexplained acronyms! But I admit I did it on purpose as will be explained. Although search engines help and actually guide people to pages like this… but only if they are familiar with the subject. In the world of teaching and training, there are requirements to hold qualifications and certification. For example when I worked in Singapore as a Senior Lecturer at a polytechnic back in the early 90s, I provided my qualifications and certificates, which didn’t include the need to supply a working with children “certificate”. Working in an education department since 2009 and after the introduction of the “ochre card” for that territory, I duly submitted my application and received my clearance… a step I am now repeating in Victoria so I can work voluntarily with young adults. This is a good thing and although having one of these clearances doesn’t preclude potential abuse, it does place it on the list of things that must be considered – by employers and employees… along with things like providing a safe workplace, guarding against bullying, being inclusive and many other things that may have been practised here in Australia and indeed in Singapore in the 90s, but now have a formalised process and accountability attached to them.

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Back to building iOS apps – the good, the bad and the frustrating

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About three years ago I tried my hand at not only building an iPhone app, but publishing it in the store. It was free and didn’t have any in-app purchases or advertisements. For the pleasure of building an app and publishing it, you need to pay Apple 150 Australian dollars per year and in my case pay for the application development tool. For essentially the hobbyist app developer, this is something that not only doesn’t generate revenue to cover the cost of the tools or subscription but can’t be deducted as  a business expense because, well, you aren’t doing business.

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