Issue 99 - Term 3 Week 3

Canva will launch SSO one-click access for NSW public schools from this Wednesday!

• one click from student and staff portals
• automatically placed in your school team
• inspire student creation with so many options!
• save time with templates for your classroom
• start now with a T4L kids linked learning adventure
• a new guide for teachers from Canva

The Canva team were so excited about this change they've recorded a special welcome for the students and teachers of NSW Public Schools!

Microsoft recently launched a new Classwork feature in Teams for Education. This new module is available for all NSW public schools now. With Classwork, educators can create and organise various class resources, including assignments, files, links, channels, Class Notebook pages, and more. By organising everything in one place, Classwork streamlines the lesson planning process. Teachers and students no longer have to navigate multiple apps and platforms to find what they need. With Classwork, teachers can organise resources into modules aligned with their curriculum structure, in a way that makes it easy for students to navigate and find them. A new training module has also been released to support teachers in using Classwork.

If you've ever participated in a Microsoft Teams meeting and the host played a video during the meeting, you've probably had a stuttered, very low frame-rate and often unwatchable experience. There are ways to greatly improve the experience when presenting videos as part of your Teams meetings. A new How-to guide was recently published with a variety of tips covering various aspects of meetings in Teams, with a new one focussing on Playing videos in your meeting. Check the link above for more information and if you are still experiencing issues, please log a service desk call with EDConnect. Microsoft Teams is listed under IT Support...Web Conference Support.

Back in issue 87, we told you about how NSW Foundation font was added to Google Docs and other tools in Workspace for Education. We even showed you how students can make it the default font that they use in primary school. But what about using these fonts in Microsoft Office or other desktop applications on your Windows or Mac device? Or what about teachers using it on their personal devices? Google has come to the rescue again, making the NSW Foundation font family available as a free download for installation on your PC or Mac! And to make installation easy on all your school's eT4L Windows devices, we've recently packaged it and added it to the DoE Software Catalogue!

Do you have budding urban planners, building designers and community developers in your class? This fantastic new edition of T4L Kids gets students to develop and design a new airport for a busy metro region, based on the new Western Sydney International Airport! It's suited to Minecraft users, both experienced and new (including teachers!). This comprehensive resource features a step-by-step video resource and design brief, and all the tutorials and ideas students will need, wrapped around by a design thinking process. Students will solve real-world problems and can let their design ideas take flight. Share the latest T4L Kids magazine with your students now!

Following on from that fantastic edition of T4L Kids, we've also published this amazing companion resource for teachers! The latest issue of magazine.T4L will power up your classroom tech in Term 3, including a feature focus on microcontrollers and on Minecraft Education. The T4L team steps you through the latest on teaching and learning with microcontrollers, including links to resources and activities for your classroom. The latest teaching resources for Minecraft Education will nicely complement our T4L Kids magazine challenge devoted to urban design. Share the latest magazine.T4L with all the teachers at your school!

So many teachers use Google Classroom very effectively to manage tasks and assignments for their students. But what happens when that teacher is unavailable for a period of time, or worse, moves to another school, or otherwise leaves? As the teacher who "owns" one or more Google Classrooms, you really should be considering such scenarios. To allow someone else to take over your class in a situation when you'll be away, you definitely should consider adding a Co-teacher to all of your Google Classrooms. This could be your Stage Leader or your Head Teacher. Then, if you are away, at short notice, they could take over your classroom - or for longer periods, they could add a casual as a co-teacher. But what if you are leaving the school? Along with all the wrap-up tasks any teacher needs to complete before leaving, transferring ownership of your Google Classroom needs to be included. If your replacement is still unknown, transfer it to someone who will be at the school, so they can transfer it on. Please actively share this tip with all other teachers that use Google Classroom at your school!

We all know that time is a precious resource in our schools, and Canva’s Bulk Create feature is a game-changer for staff across all roles. With Bulk Create you can save valuable hours by effortlessly creating multiple copies of certificates, notes, flashcards, and other essential school materials in just a few simple steps! This tool optimises productivity, ensures consistency and allows for easy customisation. The Bulk Create feature is straightforward, as the simple video tutorial below produced by Megan Anderson, one of our Digital Learning Advisers, demonstrates. Just follow the steps to quickly master the process. We'll guide you through each step to create an award system, from building a basic weekly award form to collect data, to downloading the responses in a spreadsheet and uploading the data to your Canva creations in seconds! Once you’ve mastered the Bulk Create tool, you can start getting creative with it. Why not use it to create a set of classroom posters, trivia cards for a certain topic, differentiated worksheets, social media graphics, name tags or newsletter templates? So many time saving opportunities!

In case you missed it, the new policy on students’ use of mobile phones in schools has been released. Also available are template communications, template letters for the school community, including exemption requests, and detailed procedures. The Digital Learning team is hosting online drop-in sessions to provide schools with extra support, including guidance on any adjustments that may need to be made to your existing procedures. Find out more from the links in this Staff Noticeboard article.

The T4L team is sad to advise that a week ago, our resident bundle of edu-tech energy, Joachim Cohen left to take on a new role in Darwin (of all places). Joe had an impact on virtually every school in NSW through his oversight of multiple T4L publications, professional learning webinars and face to face sessions, instructional videos and innovative solutions. Just before he left, we recorded a special quick episode of Viva Hot Spots to look back on Joe's work and get his special message for public schools in NSW.

Information Technology Directorate publishes three issues of news.T4L each term. Remember - share each issue with your staff! And if you aren't receiving an email notification as soon as a new issue of news.T4L drops, then you're missing out! So why not subscribe?