Topics covered in this edition include:

• Big Picture Education course, at Murdoch University in January – Act now!
• The ANSN DigiKids and Dimensions of Learning Hubs in 2008
• Opportunities in Action Learning
• IBM KidSmart Inaugural Summit
• KidSmart Training
• Interactive White Board (IWB) Hub QLD
• Interactive White Board (IWB) presentation in South Australia
• Habits of Mind EXPO – coverage in Education Times (Victoria)
• ANSN Networkers meet in Melbourne
• Warning from the editor of E-News, re fake E-Bay invoices
• Some websites of interest
• Reminders of ANSN activities

Big Picture Education course, at Murdoch University in January – Act now!

Earlier this month, we emailed ANSN members about the Big Picture course that will be running from 21-25 January, 2008, at the Rockingham Campus of Murdoch University. Subtitled “Relevance, Rigour and relationships in a Personalised Curriculum” the course will allow participants to explore Big Picture's highly personalised approach to education, which places the student at the centre of the learning process and combines academic work with real-world learning. The course leaders are Viv White, ANSN National Coach and Director of Big Picture Australia, and Professor Barry Down, City of Rockingham Chair in Education. If you have not yet registered please do so as quickly as possible – end of term is looming. For more information and registration details, click here.

The ANSN DigiKids and Dimensions of Learning Hubs in 2008

Registration forms to join the DigiKids and Dimensions of Learning Hubs in 2008 needed to be completed and faxed back by the 30th of November. What will you be missing if you didn't get your registration in on time?

The DigiKids Hub will provide professional development for early childhood teachers, focused on making technology an integrated component in Prep-Year 2 classrooms. If you still want to know more about the Hub, click here

In 2008, the Dimension of Learning Hub will focus on helping its members plan curriculum and instruction, through a 5-day professional development opportunity for teacher teams. If you missed the deadline for registration but want to find out more information about the Hub click here

If you want to know more about future opportunities for involvement in either Hub, contact Hanan Harrison, ANSN Networker, on hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au or by phone on 0407 462 272.

Opportunities in Action Learning

Did you know that ANSN offers opportunities for Training in Action Learning? We can offer a 2-day introductory workshop and/or a 6-day course on leading action learning, (for information click here). When you have looked at the fliers, considered the options and decided what is appropriate for your school or group of schools, click here to contact John Hogan, ANSN National Coach, and express your interest. He'll explore the possibilities with you.

IBM KidSmart Inaugural Summit

On 15 and 16 November, IBM in conjunction with South Australia Department of Education hosted the inaugural IBM National KidSmart Summit. The 2 days focused on sharing relevant and recent academic research on technology integration in the early years by Prof Martin Westwell (below left, from Flinders University) and Libby Lee (below right, from Murdoch University), and provided a forum for all participating states to showcase their implementation strategies and their state initiatives for supporting future development of technology integration within early childhood.

Prof Westwell shared his research on how technology changes the way we think and learn throughout his presentation, insightful links were made between brain development in relation to personal experiences and interactions with technology. To find out more about this research email directly to martin.westwell@flinders.edu.au .

Libby Lee, who has had a long history tracking and recording the IBM KidSmart project, shared her recent research around improving literacy for indigenous students through the use of digital story telling, where she unpacked her 3 layered approach of tracking student literacy changes: developing a portrait of a student; the pedagogies; and pathways (where to from here). To find out more about this research email directly to L.Lee@murdoch.edu.au

A future initiative from the meeting will be to explore a national interactive website where educators can share and view strategies, student work samples and obtain hints and ideas around resources and software. Keep posted to find out more.

KidSmart Training

The 2007-2008 KidSmart rollout has started nationally, with 100 new centres starting their 12-month action learning project around technology integration in a play-based curriculum. Participants commit to working in a professional learning community where they are continually challenged to reflect, explore, innovate and implement strategies for technology integration for all young learners. Hanan Harrison was in Sydney on 19 and 20 November to run the initial 2-day training for 30 early childhood teachers from the NSW Department of Education and the IEU (see below)

Kidsmart workshop sydney
During the two days, participants were introduced to the philosophy of integrating technology into the curriculum, as opposed to having the computer as a stand-alone learning experience. Participants learned new skills, focusing on developing tools for improving literacy through the development of personalised interactive e-books and digital story telling, using programs such as Photostory and Movie Maker. For details, contact hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au

Interactive White Board (IWB) Hub QLD

The IWB hub is extending to Queensland in 2008. The cost for participating in the project includes a Commander IWB and data projector, as well as 5 days of training for teacher teams, to explore effective strategies for incorporating an IWB into a classroom. Interested schools can click here for more information.

Interactive White Board (IWB) presentation in South Australia

On 8 November, Dr Trudy Sweeney (below left) and Selena Clarke (below right) presented a session at Flinders University on “Using Your Interactive Whiteboard to Improve Teaching and Learning.

Dr Sweeney, from the University's School of Education, is President of the Computers in Education Group of South Australia (CEGSA) and a former Educator of the Year award winner. In October 2006, at the ACEC conference in Cairns, she delivered a paper entitled Are interactive whiteboards a novelty or can they be used as a catalyst for building professional learning communities and pedagogic change? Dr Sweeney can be contacted at trudy.sweeney@flinders.edu.au. Selena Clarke, a teacher who moved from the UK this year, has been training South Australian teachers in classroom use of IWBs, based on her own extensive experience. Keep your eyes out for further sessions with these two presenters, who offer insights and advice based on solid research and what really works in classroom practice.

Habits of Mind EXPO – coverage in Education Times (Victoria)

The recent Habits of Mind Expo, which took place in Melbourne and Auckland was a great success, attracting hundreds of participants in both cities to share their experiences of using the Habits in their classrooms. In Victoria's Education Times, Melanie Corben covered the events in an article entitled “Good habits praised on world stage”, including a photo of teacher Lauren Payne and some of her students from Laburnum Primary School (below).

To read or download the article, click here.

For more details about the work of the ANSN Habits of Mind Hub, contact James Anderson, National Co-ordinator of the Hub, by clicking here. To register your membership of the Hub for 2008 (if you are very quick at this stage of the year) click here

ANSN Networkers meet in Melbourne

The ANSN Networker meeting, in Melbourne on 3 December, allowed participants to reflect on their common purpose, fine-tune their work plans for 2008, talk, share and work in groups with colleagues that they only meet a couple of times a year. A more complete report will appear in the next edition of E-News – the last one for the year.

Warning from the editor of E-News, re fake E-Bay invoices

Recently, via my ANSN email address, I have received fake E-Bay invoices, each of them for more than $100. I had not ordered either item and my ANSN address is not registered with E-Bay. I contacted E-Bay about it and received a reply which, in summary, said if you get an invoice like this that's suspicious, don't click on any links, delete the item, then empty your Deleted Items folder and run a virus check.

Some websites of interest

Hanan Harrison draws our attention to the McREL site, at http://www.mcrel.org/. McREL is the acronym for Mid continent Research for Education and Learning, an organisation that produces a wide range of interesting resources, many available for free. McREL's latest education magazine encourages teachers to take a second look at their own practices and ask why they're doing what they're doing. Features include articles on understanding resistance to school-wide change efforts; teaching scientific inquiry; re-examining standards; and what to look for when observing teachers' classrooms. To read or download a copy, click on the following link:
http://www.mcrel.org/pdf/changingschools/9503NL_07_ChangingSchools_Fall.pdf

Another site that I find useful myself is Australian Policy On-line (APO). APO releases a Weekly Briefing (subtitled News and Research from Leading Australian Research Centres and Institutes), which is available by email subscription (for free) or may be viewed online at http://www.apo.org.au/infocast/. APO is edited by the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology. The most recent edition covers: comment and analysis on the election; new reports of research in areas varying from stress at work to overskilling, from energy and security to depression in multi-cultural Australia; jobs in applied research; and details of events such as conferences and seminars across the country.

Reminders of ANSN activities

The following activity has been detailed in previous editions of E-News.

April and August 2008, Cognitive Coaching Course
In 2008, ANSN will deliver an intensive 8-day leadership development course in Art Costa and Robert Garmston's “Cognitive Coaching”. The course will be presented by Sue Presler in two 4-day segments, from 7-10 April and 4-7 August, 2008, at the Metro in Melbourne. There is an ‘early bird' rate if you register before 21 December 2007. To download the brochure and registration details, click here.