Thursday, May 31, 2007

The beauty myth

Webslinks for solariums: the risks

www.cancer.org.au
www.sunsmart.com.au
www.cyh.com

Weblinks for bauty and health:
www.about-face.org
www.mission.com.au
www.youngmedia.org.au

Consuming stuff

Consumer Affairs Victoria has free teacher resources to help educate youth on consumer matters.

Ethical consumers:

Choose Cruelty Free

Britian's Corporate Critic - search a list of thousands of international companies to see how socially responsible they are.

Ethical Consumer Group - has links to ethical purchasing information.

http://www.scamwatch.gov.au

www.consumersonline.gov.au

www.fido.asic.gov.au

www.accc.gov.au

Monday, May 28, 2007

English

Biographical writing:

Unforgettabole speeches Radio National
A varied list of great speeches by great people. Listen to what htey had to say as part of your research for biographical writing.

White Hat Website
An Australian site that lists the 200 most significant Australians - a mixed and interesting place to start for biographical writing.

Oral History Techniques: How to Organise and Conduct Oral History Interviews

Friday, May 25, 2007

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

WebQuests

WebQuests involve the development of student-centred problem solving activities. Students work collaboratively on a real-life task taking on authentic roles. They use the Internet as one of many resources, and then share what they have learned with others. Webquests support inquiry learning and cooperative group work.

Webquests bring together the interdisciplinary domains of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELs) Communication, Design, Creativity and Technology, Information and Communications, Technology (ICT) and Thinking Processes.

WebQuest Designer's Checklist - A good webquest needs:

An Engaging Opening
The Question / Task
Background for Everyone
Roles / Expertise
Use of the Web
Transformative Thinking
Real World Feedback
Conclusion

The following sites all provide teachers with the opportunity to create web based learning and teaching formats:

Filamentality
Web-and-flow - provides 30 day free subscriptions)
Quest Garden
Instant WebQuest

For good examples of WebQuests:

Victorian Education Channel
Best WebQuests
The WebQuest Page

Filamentality is a fill-in-the-blank tool that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Web, gathering good internet links and turning them into learning activity.

Student stuff

Websites that students may be interested in

My Space

You Tube

Vic Roads

Mobile phone recycling

Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

Government Sites

Adult, Community and Further Education Board - ACFE
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority - VCAA
Employment Division
Office for Youth
Office of Training and Tertiary Education - OTTE
TAFE Virtual Campus
Victorian Qualifications Authority
Victorian Institute of Teaching
Victorian Learning and Employment Skills Commission
Department for Victorian Communities
Better Health Channel
Business Licence Information Service - (BLIS)
Business Channel
Multimedia Victoria
Land Channel
Legal Online
Libraries Online
Victoria Online
Visit Victoria
Parks Victoria

Assessment

Rubistar - for creating rubrics

Teacher Professional Learning

Teacher Development - listing of teacher development opportunities including beginning and returning Teachers, curriculum areas, learning technology, planning and leadership.

Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme - a three-year national program to update and improve Australian teachers' skills and help lift the status of teaching in both government and non-government schools.

Professional associations
Council of Professional Teaching Associations of Victoria - list of subject associations. Includes a calendar of conferences.

Regional professional learning
Regions - Regional offices of the department provide a range of professional learning opportunities and resources.

Victorian Institute of Teaching
Victorian Institute of Teaching - information on Victoria's statutory authority for the regulation and promotion of the teaching profession.

Awards, fellowships and scholarships
Awards and Events - lists awards and events sponsored by the department as well as related resources.

Victorian Education Excellence Awards - awards for school leaders and teachers in Victorian government schools.

Curriculum professional learning
Professional Development - professional development opportunities on the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority website available for principals, teachers and school administration staff.

ICT Professional Learning
Professional Learning - includes resources such as ICT Professional Learning Strategy 2005-2007 and ICT Professional Learning Plan - Whole School, as well as information about professional learning opportunities.

ITD Online Training Schedule (secure login) Use this application to view and enrol in courses being run at your local CASES Training Centre. A password is required to access this site.

Victorian teaching sites

Department of Education is a great resource for info Australian teachers.

Curriculum @ Work

EDNA

epotential

Victorian Government Schools Reference Guide

ICT and weblearning

VCAA

News resources

ABC

The Age

Herald Sun

BBC

A Current Affair

Today Tonight

4 Corners

Foreign Correspondent

Art links

National Gallery of Victoria


Centre for Contemporary Photography

Red Bubble is an online art forum for artists and art enthusiasts.

Museums and stuff

The Australian Museum has an international reputation in the fields of natural history and indigenous studies research, community programs and exhibitions. The Museum was established in 1827 and is Australia's first museum, with unique and extensive collections of natural science and cultural artefacts.

Federation Square

Ford Discovery Centre

Melbourne Aquarium

Melbourne Immigration Museum

Melbourne Museum

Scienceworks museum

Financial websites

Spendwell, 2006, Office of Consumer and Business Affairs, SA - This web-based highly animated program targets Years 6-9 students with an innovative approach to problem-solving activities suitable for co-operative, group work and self regulated learning. Its flexible learning style caters for educational officers working in/with Aboriginal education; Financial Counsellors; students leaving school and those involved in mandatory detention centres.

Quicken: Personal Plus Education Edition, 2003, Quicken Australia - A computer based personal finance package introduces Y7-10 students to learn about personal finance and management. The hands-on approach enables students to work through set exercises independently or in groups to solve problems and explore a range of financial concepts and mechanisms to record household transactions.

The Real Game, 2006, The Real Game Inc - A five unit paper based career development program that integrates financial literacy concepts across key learning areas. This comprehensive interactive learning kit offers a stimulating theme-based approach to life-like experiences as students explore the concepts and strategies that will enable them to make better informed decisions on education, income and job satisfaction, and gain a realistic understanding of adult life, work and society.

Money Stuff, 2005, NSW Office of Fair Trading, Department of Commerce - Personal budgets, savings plans, consumer rights and responsibilities, choice, personal financial records, consumer and financial advice, financial scams, debt, consumer credit, customers to budget and manage own finances, promote basic financial literacy skills

Commonwealth Bank Foundation Financial Literacy Curriculum Resource, 2006 - An online package particularly targeting years 7 to 10. It includes lesson plans, units of work, assessment tools, advice to teachers, and web based materials. It includes 12 modules that have been mapped against each state and territory curriculum. The modules cover: earning an income, spending and saving, consumer decisions, consumer protection, buying a car, financial services and systems, managing finances, consumer awareness and protection, personal investment, planning and running a business, impact of technology, and economics of everyday finance.

Why risk it?, 2006 ANZIIF, - A free financial literacy resource for all secondary schools. It contains 10 sections providing an overview of insurance, risk management and insurance careers, primarily targeting years 9 to 10. The materials include a DVD and a folder of resources incorporating teaching activities such as case studies and practical examples.

Consumer Stuff!, 2005, Consumer Affairs Victoria - A set of resource books (Maths, Commerce, English, Health and Wellbeing, and Consuming Planet Earth) for secondary school teachers, consisting of worksheets, background notes, extension tasks, revision activities (including quizzes and puzzles), and additional website support material. The Maths and Commerce resources are particularly relevant. The Consumer Stuff! Challenge competition gets secondary school students to investigate a consumer issue and then create a Consumer Information Product which addresses the issue.

Operation Financial Literacy, 2005, Financial Basics Foundation - Operation Financial Literacy is a 10 module teaching resource aimed at students in Years 9-10 and is supported by detailed teacher notes and student worksheets. The kit contains numerous classroom, internet and research activities, including community surveys. The program can also be accessed on-line.

ASIC/FIDO Website Links for the NSW Commerce Syllabus Years 7 to 10, 2006 - Web-based resource for teachers with links to relevant information pages on the ASIC's FIDO website. The material supports the NSW Commerce syllabus for Years 7-10. The content is topical with real-life examples about financial matters and up-to-date information on financial products and services, and consumer rights and responsibilities.

Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Game, 1997 - Free online game involving investment of a notional $50,000 primarily targeting students in years 9 and 10. Students research stocks and market sectors and reallocate funds over a 10 week period. Lesson plans and supporting educational materials supplied. There is student access, and teacher access, allowing the teacher to guide student experience.

For vocational and technical education sector, and adult and community education

Money Manual; Grow Personally, Grow Profitably; and Financial Footsteps to the Future, 2006, IBSA -A three part comprehensive resource containing practical and proactive activities that can be worked through in workbooks or on the computer. Money Manual has been developed primarily for Registered Training Organisations as an aide in the delivery of the financial competency standards as part of a vocational qualification; whilst the Financial Footsteps to the Future, and the Growing Personally, Growing Profitable programs support the FNS10104 Certificate I standard, targeting the adult and community education sectors and small businesses. The progressive but flexible format of the manuals allow for individual learning or teacher delivery to groups of participants; and use a variety of learning styles such as video/visual presentations, role play and group brainstorming.

MoneyMinded, 2006, ANZ - A hard copy package designed for use by financial counsellors and community educators to support delivery to their clients. It includes 16 workshops that cover: planning, saving, budgeting, financial paperwork, everyday banking, credit, debt, consumer rights and responsibilities. The package includes speaking notes for facilitators, lesson plans, case studies and activity sheets for participants. Calculators and satchels are also available upon request for participants.

Money101, Money for life, 2006, Money101, Money for Life - An interactive online training program designed for flexible delivery through the workplace. It is a web based eLearning resources that is accessed via a learning management system. The training is supplemented by face to face workshops and downloadable workbooks and learning materials. Covers: budgeting as a financial tool, developing and implementing a personal budget, saving and investing, risk, and superannuation.

Making Cents

Jobs and careers

myfuture is Australia's online career exploration and information service. It is valuable for students within the education and training sectors and is useful for all other Australians interested in exploring their career prospects and achieving their career goals.

You can access facts about occupations, salaries, courses, where you can do courses, your own region, industries and contact organisations. You can also access articles and activities like: getting a job, how to start your own business and working overseas. On the site you can also access your own personal career decision making tool.

Australian Department of Education, Science and Technology has a teacher's resource page.

There is also a careers development section on their website, with info on youth pathways, career advice and career planning.

Job juice

Business programs in schools

Australian Business Week - an innovative Enterprise Education program for primary, secondary and tertiary students.

Australian Network of Practice Firms - provides a simulated business environment used for training purposes where students manage and operate a company as part of their learning program. Each simulated business (or 'practice firms', or 'virtual enterprises' or 'training companies') follow real-world business practices and trade within a virtual economy.

Young Achievement Australia - provides business enterprise programs for students. The web site details their national awards program, student events, and contains state-specific news sections.

The Real Game series - a career and life skills education program. The implementation of The Real Game series in Australia is a Commonwealth Government initiative, managed by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Sport websites

www.sisa.com.au/default.aspx?s=yearofthelifesaver
(Year of the Surf Life Saver, beach and water safety info)

www.melbourne2007.com.au/?s=schools
(FINA world swimming championships, schools page with a newsletter and classroom resources)

www.exploratorium.edu/sports/
(Explorapedia Sport Science)

www.ausport.gov.au
(Info from the Australian Sports Commission and The Australian Institute of Sport, plus research and educational supplements)

www.abc.net.au/sport
(ABC sport coverage, includes video clips, podcasts, image galleries and featueres of specific events)

www.vsssa.org.au and www.vpssa.org.au
(Vicotiran Secondary and Primary Sports Associations)

www.smasa.asn.au/resources/resources.htm
(Sports medicine Australia, fact sheets exploring sports science as well as drugs, safety, first aid, feature articles, education courses and women in sport).

www.voea.vic.edu.au
(Victoria OUtdoor Education, support material)

www.sahof.org.au
http:tinyurl.com/3b3t3n
(Sport Australia Hall of Fame, biographies)

www.blindsports.org.au
(Blind and wheelchair sports)

www.wsv.org.au
(Sports for disabled participants)

www.vis.org.au
(Victorian Insitute of Sport)

www.sport.vic.gov.au
(Sports Victoria)

www.melbournevictory.com.au
(Melbourne Victory)

www.cricket.com.au
(Cricket Australia)

www.afl.com.au
(AFL)

Health websites

Better Health Channel
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/

Ronald MacDonald House, Monash
Website: http://www.rmhc.org.au/thehouses

Monash Medical Centre, Southern Health
Website: www.southernhealth.org.au/mmc.htm

VicHealth
Website: http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/

Kidshelpline
Website: http://www.kidshelp.com.au

depressioNet
Website: http://www.depressionet.com.au

Hopeline
Website: http://www.can-survive.org/

Australian Dental Association
Website: http://www.ada.org.au/

beyondblue
http://www.beyondblue.org.au

The Bronte Foundation (formerly Footprints of Angels - Brisbane)
Website: http://www.thebrontefoundation.com.au/

The Oak House (formerly Footprints of Angels - Melbourne)
Website: http://www.theoakhouse.com.au/

Orygen Youth Health
Website: http://www.orygen.org.au/

Carlingford Centre - Wesley Mission
Website: http://www.wesleymission.org.au/centres/carlingford/

Throsby Place - ACT
Email: email: throsby.place@act.gov.au

Royal Children’s Hospital
Website: http://www.rch.org.au

Royal Melbourne Hospital
http://www.mh.org.au/Royal_Melbourne_Hospital/ABOUT_RMH/

Health info - eating disorders

The Butterfly Foundation support Australians with eating disorders.

Eating Disorders Foundation of Victoria

Centre of Excellent in Eating Disorders

Gippsland Eating Disorders Network

Learning to Eat at Peace - a community organisation committed to improving access to treatment and support in the Geelong region.

Eating Disorder Foundation of NSW
Website: http://www.edsn.asn.au

EDS - Wellington, New Zealand
Website: http://www.eatingdisorders.org.nz/

Teacher magazine and S-press

Teacher magazine is the largest independent education magazine in Australia.

The magazine works in conjunction with the S-press Student magazine.

Lesson plan sites

Websites where you can search online educational resources and online lesson plans:

The Educator's Reference Desk has over 2000 lesson plans, 3000 links to online educaiton information.

TeacherXpress (British)

Education Network Australia (edna) is Australia’s leading online resource collection and collaborative network for the education and training community.

Its associated Oz Projects site has some good resources.

The Learning Federation is another Australian web resource.

Edutopia

Lesson Planet

PBS Teachers

Teacher's Pet - a free macro that sits in Word, allows you to easily create puzzles and many other activities.

Education Network Australia

Education Network Australia (edna) is Australia’s leading online resource collection and collaborative network for the education and training community.

The Le@rning Federation

The Le@rning Federation (TLF) is a project using technologies to produce online curriculum content to encourage student learning and support teachers in Australian and New Zealand schools.

There is stuff on the site for a range of subject areas - Science, Arts, design and technology, Business and enterprise, Literacy for students at risk, Studies of Australia and Languages.

Corporate websites - business ethics

The following links are some useful corporate websites for social responsibility and business ethnics (Business Management, Unit 3 and 4).

www.westpac.com.au
www.colesgroup.com.au
www.telstra.com.au
www.amcor.com
www.anzbank.com.au
www.bhpbilliton.com.au

Legal studies

Legal Online

Victorian Legal Aid

Australian Law Online

Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents

Consumer Affairs

Department of Justice

Ombudsman Victoria

Courts and Tribunals

Argument mapping - navigating around Rationale, examples, templates, assessment ideas and activities to integrate critcial thinking in your classroom.

Law stuff

Civics and Citizenship website. This website contains resources, information, activities and links for teachers, students and parents involved in civics and citizenship education.

Australian business websites

Australian Bureau of Statistics (for info on the characteristics of small business in Australia – go to Statistics- By catalogue number- Industry wide statistics – Publication 8127.0 – Characteristics of Small Business Australia)

Business Victoria (info for starting a business)

Australian Taxation Office (Starting a business/New business/Student resources)

CPA Australia (has a great links page for Student Resources)

Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) - originally formed in 1851, the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is Victoria's most influential employer group. This web site provides information about membership and member benefits, events, training, professional services, programs and industry news.

Understanding Money – Education and Training - provides support and advice to teachers, trainers, human resource professionals who want to deliver financial literacy programs. It also provides advice for developers of financial literacy educational materials.

Health/food production websites

Nestle

Golden Circle

Cadbury

Kelloggs

Cottees

Sanitarium

Clipart pictures

Japanese clipart

WP clipart

Incredible free clipart

Images for use in Multimedia Projects and Web Pages:

Barry's clipart

Copyright friendly images


Photos:

Foto search

Morgue file

Photographic libraries

Yoto photos

ESL websites

Here are some well-known and useful ESL websites I've used in the past:

One stop English

Dave's cafe

English Bites
English Bites is a television presentation and web site designed to help improve your English language skills. Every weekday we show a story and then help you understand the language that has been used in it. You can use the web site with or without watching the show because the web site explains all the stories in detail. Designed for Students of the English language in the Asia/Pacific region, English Bites website is increasingly being used by English students in schools in Australia and recent migrants wishing to improve their English skills in the privacy of their own home.

Business English websites

http://www.businessenglishonline.net/

http://esl.about.com/od/englishforbusinesswork/English_for_Business_Work_and_other_Special_Purposes.htm

http://www.englishclub.com/business-english/index.htm

http://www.better-english.com/exerciselist.html

http://www.eslbusinessnews.com/

http://www.eslcafe.com/search/Business_English/index.html

http://www.geocities.com/kurtracy/

Business Ethics

Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand has a great education kit that you can download from their site. Covering issues on World Trade, fairtrade certification, the coffee trade, the cocoa trade, sweatshops and avenues of empowerment.

The UK Fairtrade site also has some good resources.

Global education

Globally speaking

United Nations Cyberschool bus. Info on Peace Education, Poverty, Human Rights, Cities of the World, World Hunger, Indigenous People, Rights at Work, Ethnic Discrimination, Racial Discrimination

Oxfam Australia also has teaching materials for teachers, adaptable for students of a variety of ages, from upper-primary to year 12 students.

World Vision has worksheets and case studies on issues such as water and sanitation, as well as info on professional development conferences and the millennium development goals.

Catholic Agency for Overseas Development has some free, online and priced resources.
http://www.cafod.org.uk/resources

Science - World Environment Day

These are some links that may be useful for World Environment Day - June 5, 2007

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
www.unep.org

Green TV, broadband TV channel for environmental films produced in partnership with the UNEP. Water, air, land and climate change links.

Go to www.un.org and test the level of acid in your rainwater using a bowl of cabbage soup.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
http://www.unccd.int/

Indigenious issues

National Sorry Day, May 26, is the day to publicly recognise the pain and anguish suffered by the Stolen Generation through the removal of Indigenous children from their families. 2007 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Bringing Them Home report.

Go to www.nsdc.org.au and see what your school can do to participate.

Reconciliation Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation established in 2000 by the former Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. An Australia that provides equal life chances for all, recognising and respecting the special place, culture and contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians.

APAC is a project in WA that aims to broaden and deepen students' and teachers' understanding of Aboriginal cultures and ways of being. Great links page.

Climate change - safe drinking water

Go to www.un.org and read about how you can get involved in a special UN initiative to help people around the world gain access to safe drinking water. Also view videos and a slide show looking at water conservation.

Pumped Up for Peace. This is a new project being sponsored by the United Nations Cyberschoolbus to help communities around the globe that don't have access to safe drinking water.

Sustainability

Info on how schools can become sustainable.

Education for sustainability

Eco Town

Australian Conservation Foundation's GreenHome program

The Climate Group's Victorian greenhouse indicator shows Victoria's weekly greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired electricity, petrol and natural gas.

The Victorian Government website that shows us how we can use resources more efficiently and reduce our everyday environmental impacts.

An online training kit on sustainable consumption for young people.


A campaign set up by the World Wildlife Fund with the goal of helping young people learn how they can make a difference by buying differently.

Marketing lessons -advertisments and products

Duncan's TV Ad Land has a list of TV ads, commercials, print adverts and videos online.

http://www.duncans.tv/


Virgin Blue has some of their quirky TV commercials online to download. (Ads nclude the bucks party, cover band, carpark, cinema, lcoked out and toilet commercial).

http://www.virginblue.com.au/about_us/media/tv_commercials/

Crazy products from Japan (if you need some unusual products for students to 'sell' or discuss):
http://www.uniquedaily.com/articles/TCBPTCFJJ.html

http://www.uniquedaily.com/articles/TMSPTCFJJ.html

Strange new products is a look at the weirdest, funniest, stupidest, and ingenious new products entering the marketplace.

http://www.strangenewproducts.com/

Discussions on advertisements:

Brand Republic is the place to find all about the UK marketing, media and communications industries.

Ad Busters is a Candaian based magazine concerned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces.

Advertising Standards Bureau

Australian Association of National Advertisers

Parents Jury

Business/Legal Internet activities

These WebQuests and Thinking Internet activities have been developed by a teacher in Springvale (Melbourne) and and meet the VELS criteria.

He has resources for Business Management, Economics, Accounting, Commerce and Civics and Citizenship.

http://www.springvalesc.vic.edu.au/richardarmitage

Digital/new media links

Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT)

eGovernment Resource Centre

Multimedia Victoria

Flickschool

Teacher tube

Teachers TV

Pod Kids

Aussie kids at Pod Bean

Assignment Podcast - a project on how to do use podcasting to do an internet radio show

Wikispaces for teachers

PB Wiki (US based)

Wikiville (UK based)

Media resources

ATOM is an independent, non-profit, professional association for Teachers of Media and Teachers who wish to use media effectively in their classroom.

Metro magazine. Great coverage of Australian and NZ films. Also has links to Australian Screen Education.

Check out their interactive websites for students and teachers. Study guides available for download include: An Inconvenient Truth, Freedom Writers, Hunt Angels, Robots, Ten Canoes.

The site also mentions The Australian Film Commission (AFC), which through its Education Program offers opportunities for school students to watch screenings of contemporary and classic Australian feature films, documentaries and short films.

Also check out the Speaker's Bureau, where you can book a speaker for your school.

Film Victoria has developed info on locations for productions, crew and production services, OH&S information, a list of what's currently shooting in Victoria, industry links and info for new filmmakers.

Of the world TV is a website that you can download indpendent videos from around the world.

The Movie Show

Media Watch

Film Australia Digital Learning

Lonely Planet Less than three project

Lonely Planet TV

Little Big Shots - International Film Festival for Kids

Business blogs - useful resources

I've recently put together a lesson plan for creating business blogs. Here are some links I found useful:

‘9 Simple Ways to be an Effective Blogger’,
http://ezinearticles.com/?9-Simple-Ways-to-be-an-Effective-Blogger&id=355326

Technofile: Blogging for Business, Inc.com
www.inc.com/articles/2003/07/bblogs.html

Books and articles:

Wilson, D 2007, ‘The strategy of blogging’, Small Business Review, The Age, 20 May 2007
http://www.businessnetwork.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/21/31332.html

Richardson, W 2006, Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms, Corwin Press, California, United States