Pear Deck Making the Beginning and End of Class count

Frame It Up! Make the Beginning and End of Class Count The beginning and end of class can be some of the most important pieces of a lesson. The first few moments of class present a critical opportunity to awaken our students’ curiosity, and the last minutes of class help your students bring it all together. Check out these three ways to light a spark in the first and last few minutes of class. Read More

Week of Code Showcase

The week before Christmas Break the Digital Learning Coaches (DLCs) showcased different coding activities. Students could drop by during their lunchtime and sample how to write code for a drone, Sphero, Dash robot or write with LightBot. The event was very popular with students who returned a number of times over the three days to try the different activities.

New Google Sites allows HTML embedding

From January 2 you will be able to embed HTML and Javascript into your Google Site.
This was available in the old version of Google Sites but disappeared when the new version was launched.

This was very frustrating if you wanted to embed objects in your website that were not a Google Product such as YouTube. It was impossible to embed features such as a Twitter feed or a 360 degree player creating a site that felt easily customisable, but that has now changed.
Great move Google, making Sites a more flexible platform.

More information available at:

https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2017/12/embed-html-and-javascript-in-new-google-sites.html

YouTube announce Policy Change

 from Internet Matters December Newsletter

YouTube have announced a series of changes to their policies in a bid to protect young people from comments online and potentially harmful content.

YouTube expanded their enforcement guidelines around removing content featuring minors that may be endangering a child, even if that was not the uploader’s intent and implemented age-restriction policies on content that includes family entertainment characters but contained mature themes or adult humour.  .

They are also applying new “machine learning” technology and automated tools to quickly find “potentially violative” content, which can then be flagged for human review. They implemented policies to age-restrict (only available to people over 18 and logged in) content with family entertainment characters but containing mature themes or adult humor. Starting last month, they launched a more ‘aggressive stance’ on turning off all comments on videos of minors where they see offensive comments.  YouTube is also working closely with creators to produce quality content for YouTube Kids.  For more information on the full rundown of changes click here.

Best Apps and Websites for Learning Programming and Coding

Link to CommonSense media blog post

Kahoot: Homework that corrects itself

Save time and assess learning progress with Kahoot! challenges Have you already tried assigning kahoots as homework? It’s really easy with our new challenge feature! Instead of paper assignments, students can now play Kahoot! homework challenges in our app on their smartphones or tablets. 5 reasons to assign kahoots as homework: Make homework fun and engaging for students Boost homework completion rate Reinforce learning and support revision Save time on correcting assignments Get an instant assessment of learning progress To make it even easier to review homework and assess its results, we’ve added neat new reports on challenges to our mobile app! Find out how to assign kahoots as homework with challenges and assess results.

Learn more

G Suite Training - Get training on the spot

This Google Chrome extension by Google themselves places resources at your fingertips to learn the tips and tricks of using Google Apps. You add the extension to Chrome allows you to access the training menu right within the app.

The training menu covers: Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Sites, Forms, Google+, Classroom

Click the link to locate the extension.

Development Impact and You

Our world is constantly changing and we need to work better. Sometimes we need to look at things from a new perspective. Here is a toolkit that has the resources to help you do that.

Click on this link to view the Development Impact website

In the year of push alerts

An interactive site showing the push alerts sent out by the New York Times over a year. See how big news stories developed.

Click on the image or this link to view

Common Sense YouTube channel review are here!

You asked for help keeping up with the best (and worst) of YouTube, and we answered. Common Sense YouTube channel reviews are here! They'll point you to the most popular channels and stars your kids are watching. And the best part: These reviews are independent, family‑focused, and free. You can help keep it that way by supporting Common Sense. Give today, and make sure you always have what you need to keep up with your kids. Support Common Sense

Digital Life of your Child

Click on the image above or on this link to view