Welcome to another edition of Insite.
A very exciting time ahead with the QSITE Conference being held in a few weeks. The theme of the conference is "Beyond The Flashing Lights." The keynote speakers are Mark Pesce and Richard Eden. The workshops include a great variety of presentations on digital portfolios, game making and new initiatives for the classroom. It's not too late to register! See you at Churchie September 30 - October 2!
In this Issue:
- QSITE State Conference 2009
- QSITE Awards
- Conversations on the Back Channel
- What’s New in Open-Source
- ABC3 Promo Competition
QSITE State Conference 2009
Have You Registered? Don't Miss This Great Event!
QSITE State Conference 2009: "Beyond the Flashing Lights"
Anglican Church Grammar School, East Brisbane - September 30 and October 1 and 2 2009
It will be in the spirit of all QSITEConferences!
Wednesday 30th September (pre-conference workshops)
Thursday 1st October - Friday 2nd October 2009 (Conference)
The day of pre-conference workshops willcommence the great professional learning on offer, and invited speakerswill engage participants in the spirit and focus of the event - not tobe missed!
Strands will be based around such topics as: ICTin the Curriculum – Stories from the Classroom, LearningTechnologies/e-Learning, School Infrastructure, IPT/ITS/ICT SAS, ICTLeadership, ICT in the Middle Phase, ICT in the Early Phase, and ICT Products.
More information available on the Conference Website http://www.qsite.edu.au/conf2009
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Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
QSITE Awards
Nominations are now open for the 2009 QSITE Awards, and due by Friday 9th October 2009.
There are many great QSITErs worthy of these awards For more information go to the Awards section of the website.
Conversations on the 'Back Channel"
If you’ve been to a conference recently you may have noticed
attendees typing away furiously on their laptops or using their mobiles
during the sessions. Chances are that they were not actually off task
but participating in rich conversation online relating to the
conference sessions they were in. Often known as the ‘back channel’
participants use web 2.0 tools like twitter or coveritlive
to connect and share their thoughts and reflections in real time –
often with people from around the world who are not actually at the
event as well as those in the same room.
This year’s QSITE conference will be no exception. As well as having an ‘unconference’ strand participants will be invited to share their thoughts and reflections
online through out the event using many different devices. In this
issue of Insite we outline the tools of twitter and CoverItLive.
Twitter is a popular microblogging service where using update their
status or share a thought or question through a ‘tweet’ which is a
message that is limited to 140 Characters. Users choose who they
‘follow’ to receive tweets from these users and can reply to the tweets
from others by adding an ‘@’ before their username. Tweets relating to
a particular topic or event can use a hashtag by adding a ‘#’ before a
word. When a user searches for this take or clicks on it in a tweet,
all of the tweets with that tag will be displayed. For the QSITE 2009
conference we will be using the hashtag #qsite09
Twitter in Plain English
Follow @qsite on twitter
CoverItLive is a live blogging tool where notes
from bloggers and other participants are shown in real time and
automatically updated. It is often used at conferences and to cover,
discuss and comment on live events such as sporting events or TV
broadcasts like EuroVision. You can embed a live blog in another
webpage such as a blog or conference website as well as using the
coveritlive site directly. At the end of an event, a coveritlive
session can be played back in real time so that you can catch up on the
parts that you missed, reflect on the event or visit the links that
were shared in the session.
CoverItLive Demos
Check out how it was used at the recent JPC conference
Why not explore these back channel tools right now in preparation for this year’s QSITE conference.
What's New In Open Source Software
Open Source Software is a rapidly growing area of interest for schools looking to make savings when budgets are tight.
Downloaded more than 7 million times, Stellarium is one of the most popular open-source education apps available. With this app, you can input coordinates for any point on earth and view the night skies for any particular point in time. It's so accurate, it's even used to power many planetariums. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X. Like Stellarium, Celestia lets you view the night skies from earth, but it also lets you fly through 3D space to any place in the known universe. When possible, it uses actual photographs of planets, asteroids, and other objects, so that you can see what they really look like. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X. This award-winning art program lets kids create small drawings using paintbrush, rubber stamp, line, shape, and text tools, as well as "magic" special effects. TuxPaint is designed for kids age 3-12, but its simple design and cartoon characters (including help from Tux the Linux penguin) make it most suitable for kids in preschool through second grade. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X. In addition to typing lessons, TuxType includes two games for practicing your keyboarding skills. In Fish Cascade, kids help Tux the Linux penguin eat fish by typing the correct letters, and in Comet Zap, they save Tux from destruction by typing the correct letters. With its simple nature and cartoon character, this app is best for elementary-school kids who are just learning their way around the keyboard. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X This java-based app lets students create diagrams of atoms, molecules, macromolecules, crystals, and more. The site includes a handbook and tutorials for helping you learn how to use the software. Operating System: OS Independent. If you want to share some favourites that you use in your classroom for our next edition please send them to paulathomas07@gmail.com
ABC3 Promo Competition
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the NSW Department of Education and Training through the Centre for Learning Innovation have worked together to create a competition for Primary school aged children across Australia. ABC3 is a brand new kids TV channel and online world which will launch before Christmas. ABC TV needs to tell all of Australia that ABC3 is coming – and wants your help. We want primary school-aged kids to create a short video or online banner that shows why ABC3 is the channel all Australian kids will want to watch. Winning entries will appear on ABC television and on the ABC website. The competition is free to enter and is open to all primary school-aged children in all schools across Australia. More information can be found i on www.abc3byme.nsw.edu.au
