CONTENT

Announcements: from the Desk of the President 

Upcoming webinars and events: online PL for Term Four

Digital Cultural Adventures: from the Museum of Chinese Australian History

Call for presentations: DigiCon in February 2021

AI in the classroom: webinar series for Primary and Secondars teachers

Values in the Digital World: new book

STEM kits lending library: from Pakronics

ANNOUNCEMENTS

From the desk of DLTV President Ben Gallagher

Today I’d like to focus on DLTV membership.

You may have already had some communication about membership from us. We are always encouraging people and schools to join DLTV, as we are very aware that we are only as strong as our membership base and only as good as the service we provide to them.

Remember without members there is no DLTV!

In recent times the importance of Digital Technologies and Digital Literacies have been strongly brought home to students, educators, and parents. People are increasingly aware of the extent to which these can enhance learning outcomes for both teachers and students, across all subject areas and all year levels.

With that in mind we have put together some prizes to hopefully entice you to join or renew for 2022 as we think every teacher is a DigiTech teacher.

Our major prize is two micro:bit kits kindly donated by our close industry partner and DLTV supporter The Brainary.

We also have two other prizes on offer; a gift voucher to the value of $150 as well as a free membership for a school or individual.

If you’ve already joined don’t worry, we will put everyone in the draw between now and the end of the school year and we will contact you through your membership email.

If you need more reasons to join us in 2022, please see our flyer in this newsletter.

Don’t forget, to say thank you to all our hard-working educators and schools in the time of COVID we are still promoting our ELEVATE offer if you’re an individual. This means you can pay for an individual membership and elevate to a school membership for 2022, thereby engaging more of your teachers at your school.

When you join as a school we are continuing our GIFTING idea. If there’s a school nearby which you work closely with, who aren’t DLTV members you can thank them for their hard work and commitment by gifting them a free school membership for 2022.

Finally, don’t forget to put our Virtual DigiCon conference in your dairies, February 21st to 24th 4pm to 6pm each afternoon. We are currently calling for presenters. There will be more news on Digicon between now and the end of the year. Including pricing and member discounts.

Any queries re membership or DigiCon please email our manager Kevin Daly.

Finally, I hope the next few weeks of term go well for you and your school as we slowly return to some semblance of normality.

As always reach out if we can support you in any way.

Cheers, Ben

UPCOMING WEBINARS AND EVENTS

Classroom robotics across learning areas

3 Nov 2021, 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM

Cost: free

In this webinar, Sam Kingsley from The Brainary will showcase practical examples of how to incorporate the Digital Technologies Curriculum and ICT across multiple areas of the school curriculum. He will demonstrate how robotics (hardware and software) can be used in classrooms and across different learning areas.

VCE Applied Computing Teachers' Conference

5 Nov 2021, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM

$45 for DLTV members, $55 for non-members

This year's VCE Applied Computing Teachers' Conference will again take place online.

Presentations are delivered in the form of short, sharp sessions (~40 minutes) throughout the day:

• core sessions from experienced teachers sharing their knowledge and classroom practice for VCE Applied Computing Units 1 & 2, Data Analytics Units 3 & 4 and Software Development Units 3 & 4,
  
  
• topical sessions on tools, ideas and areas relevant to VCE Applied Computing teachers.

Maintaining a culture of tech in your school

18 Nov 2021, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Cost: free

Haven't had a chance to see our recent panel discussion yet?

18 November is a screening of a pre-recorded discussion about the challenges of keeping a culture of ICT use going in a school, then DLTV staff will host an open chat for those attending to share their own experiences and challenges in their own schools.

Moderated by Daryl English, the recorded discussion includes Debra Hicks (Digital Learning Services at the Department of Education and Training Victoria), Steve Brophy (Ivanhoe Grammar School), David Williams (Catholic Education Diocese of Sandhurst) and Catherine Newington (Australian Computing Society).

Object-oriented programming: Getting started for Australian teachers

1 Dec 2021 + 8 Dec 2021, 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Cost: free

Taking place across two Wednesday afternoons, this online workshop is a guided delivery of the content in DLTV's virtual module set: Object-oriented Programming: Getting started for Australian teachers, by the developers of that resource.

Especially relevant for teachers of DigiTech 9-10 and VCE, discover what Object-oriented Programming is and why programmers use it through a sequence of activities.

DIGITAL CULTURAL ADVENTURES: Chinese Museum

The Museum of Chinese Australian History (Chinese Museum) has embraced new technologies and software to make museum education more accessible and dynamic than ever before.

Digital Cultural Adventures (DCAs), the new virtual incursion program from the Chinese Museum, brings the museum’s vast collections and knowledge to Victorian classrooms. They encourage participants to explore the people, stories and traditions linked to the history of Chinese people in Australia.

The DCAs prioritise interactive teaching and learning, entertainment and educational value, with each incursion aligned to the Victorian F-10 Curriculum.

The DCAs are delivered live into classrooms, through video conferencing by experienced guides.

To learn more about this fresh approach to museum education, read the full article.

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: DigiCon

DLTV is pleased to invite submissions for our next DigiCon event, to be held from the 21st to 24th February 2022 on a fully online platform.

This exciting event will bring together educators and experts from around the country over four afternoons of events. We have featured speakers and deep-dive, focused sessions planned for each day, and we are now seeking educators to share a 25-minute presentation with our attendees. We are hoping for interactive sessions that bring technologies and teaching experiences to life with examples, stories, and explanations of classroom use.

If you have something to share, we welcome your application now!

AI IN THE CLASSROOM: Webinar series

DLTV recently worked with the Digital Technologies Hub to deliver a series of Professional Learning webinars on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom.

AI is all around us, offering an exciting new way for students and teachers to explore the world.

It also provides students with a meaningful way to engage with many of the core concepts and applications within the Australian Digital Technologies Learning Area (F–10), as well as a number of General Capabilities including Ethical Understanding.

VALUES IN THE DIGITAL WORLD: New book

From the author, Dr John Bellavance:

I have been teaching Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in high schools in Australia for 20 years. I wrote a book that tells the story of the moral values young people bring to their interactions in the digital world and the positive possibilities of using ICTs as domains for ethical development. Yet it also tells the story of how ICTs can be used to hurt others, without a need to engage with one’s own sense of right and wrong, which can lead to a sense of exemption from moral responsibility.

The book also outlines a Digital Moral Framework (DMF) that parents and teachers can use to foster moral values and abilities, and address moral challenges faced by young people while using ICTs.

PAKRONICS STEM LENDING LIBRARY: Open for 2022 to DLTV members schools

It's back for 2022! DLTV's industry partner Pakronics is pleased to supply our readers the opportunity to borrow STEM kits to trial at your school.

All the STEM classroom kits include resources and on-boarding webinar to get you started. Different hardware options available tailored to early Primary, upper Primary and Secondary years.

There are some minor admin costs but otherwise this is a totally free service.