Issue 112 - Term 3 Week 6

An upgrade to the core eT4L services is scheduled at all NSW schools during the upcoming school holiday period.

An upgrade of Config Manager will be applied to all school eT4L servers from the morning of Monday 30 September through to the afternoon of Wednesday 2 October. During this maintenance window, please avoid any: 

• UDM software deployments 
• F12 device builds 

Staff intending to perform these functions during this period should schedule their days accordingly.
 

There’s a new feature in Google Classroom that enables teachers to create groups of students to make assigning differentiated content easier. This update will allow you to quickly assign classwork to pre-defined sets of students without having to tediously select individuals!

Teachers can differentiate content across sub-sections of their class based on their students' needs. For example, you can create groups based on reading levels and as your class adapts, edit members of a group or delete groups within the class.

This feature should be available in the next fortnight.

Coming in iPadOS 18, Smart Script makes editing handwritten text just as simple as editing typed text.

With Apple Pencil, teachers and students can easily add space, remove a sentence, or even paste text in their own handwriting. From this the paragraph will automatically correct to fit the new content. 

Get ready for more exciting new features on iPad. Learn more about iPadOS 18 on the Apple website. 

 
 

All devices need periodic restarts to keep up to date and apply security updates. If a device has not been restarted for some time it may present with some issues.

Large numbers of Chromebooks are online for consecutive days and schools are experiencing issues which could be resolved by regular reboots.

We are implementing a change on all Chromebooks to perform a forced reboot at 10pm each day starting from Thursday 29 August (Week 6). If you are experiencing continued issues with your Chromebooks, please log a ticket with EDConnect.

Registrations are now open for the free three-part webinar series next month, designed to transform your teaching and collaboration using Canva in the classroom.

This series will equip you with the skills needed to elevate your classroom experience and create engaging, collaborative and visually appealing content.

1. Mastering collaborative design with Canva: boost your teamwork by using Canva’s whiteboard for real-time collaboration, implementing templates for effective project organisation and enhanced productivity.

2. Canva communicate: elevate your storytelling with Canva’s design tools. Create compelling visual content, apply design principles for effective communication and develop diverse content that evokes emotions. 

3. Canva create: empower educators and revamp your classroom with design tools. Create engaging teacher resources and student activities and enhance content with Canva’s Magic Studio, effects and apps. 

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to unlock your creative potential, sign up now!

 

ARTEXPRESS Virtual is a world-leading, award-winning exhibition designed to provide equitable access to high-quality gallery experiences and exemplary artworks across New South Wales classrooms.

This year, we have added 55 new artworks to the resource and introduced an exciting new gallery space.

• Accessibility: designed for broad accessibility, the exhibition can be accessed using any device, ensuring that everyone can engage with the content.
• Comprehensive showcase: includes student interviews, body of work analysis videos from curriculum staff and 30 Visual Arts Process Diaries.
• Partnership and legacy: this initiative is a joint partnership between the NSW Department of Education and the NSW Education Standards Authority.
• Educational impact: the Arts Unit team has actively presented ARTEXPRESS Virtual at state conferences and continues to collaborate on professional learning opportunities for teachers.

If you’ve visited before, you’ll find much to look forward to in this enhanced experience.

This year, Australians have lost over $134 million due to investment scams, romance scams and phishing. Scams Awareness Week is the 26-30 August, take the time to learn about scams and fraud. Things to watch out for are:

• short, poorly written messages with links to click and asking you to act now!
• invitations to join a chat from someone you do not know
• a caller asking for personal information or payment, wanting to ‘fix’ your PC or threating you
• fake social media profiles of famous people ‘recommending’ good or services
• fake shopping site with everything ‘on sale’, no contact us information and only positive reviews!

Students and teachers can learn more with the Avoid online scams interactive course and Phishing and scams lesson. If you encounter a suspicious contact or activity report to Scamwatch.
 

Creative tools can greatly enhance the educational experience, offering students the means to express and develop their ideas.

Unlicensed, assessed and safe alternatives such as Krita, Inkscape and Scribus cater to digital painting, vector graphics and desktop publishing needs, respectively.

DaVinci Resolve and Darktable provide powerful video editing and photo processing capabilities, while Blender offers a robust platform for 3D modeling and animation.

For UI/UX design, Lunacy is a strong contender, and Quixel Mixer excels in texturing. VSCodium, an open-source code editor, supports coding projects and web design.

These tools are ideal for schools seeking cost-effective, high-quality software options.

Learn more about these wonderful tools with this useful graphic.



 

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