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BenQ RP7501K Interactive Panel Read why this panel deserves a place in your classroom
Empowering Teachers to Innovate with Technology News, updates, resources & lesson ideas ready to use today
GOT BOTS? WHAT NEXT?
June 2019
Circumnavigating Tech Integration with Ozobots Got Bots? What's next? Find out how you can link your bots to the curriculum
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Share Your Students' Tech Interest
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PAGE 14 Level Up with Google Classroom Soar to new levels of learning with Google Classroom
Assessment Tools for Specialist Teachers
ARTICLES
LEARNING
PAGE 9 BenQ RP7501K Interactive Panel Read why this panel deserves a place in your classroom
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ISSUE 6 / APRIL 2019
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Steps to Becoming a DJ - Student Guide
Prize Winner
PD Certificate
GSuite Updates
CYBER SAFETY
04 17 29 29
HARDWARE
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PAGE 8 Cybersafety Posters New posters for your classroom
PAGE 18 Circumnavigating Tech Integration with Ozobots Got Bots? What next? Find out how you can link your bots to the curriculum
table of contents
Guest Writer
PAGE 6 Get Animating with Google Slides Start animating in Google Slides
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get in touch
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Thanks for joining us again for another issue of ICT EDU Magazine. We say thank you because the time and effort in preparing this resource is only made worthwhile with readers like yourself putting into action some of the new ideas from the publication. A recent ABC podcast challenged the benefits of having computers in classrooms. Whilst we acknowledge screen time can be an issue, technology in the classrooms has huge potential. BUT only if teachers are thoughtfully, critically and authentically using technology to enhance the learning and teaching. Gratuitous technology use (ie. maths games, unsupported Googling, typing up writing, PDFs of worksheets) we would argue serves no benefit. So let's encourage greater dialogue around the use of technology that enhances creativity, collaboration, problem solving, feedback, student voice and student autonomy. Hope this issue has some ideas to help you and your students truly benefit from technology in the classroom. Marty & Tser Lin
Martin McGauran ICT Edu martin@ictedu.com.au www.ictedu.com.au
EDITORS Tser Lin Hetherton Martin McGauran WORDSMITH Martin McGauran HEAD OF DESIGN Tser Lin Hetherton DESIGN CONSULTANT Stacey Hetherton COPYWRITER Melissa McGauran EDITOR'S OFFICE ICT Edu Magazine PO BOX 3035 Mentone East Victoria 3194
hello@ictedumag.com www.ictedumag.com
Tser Lin Hetherton Technology in Education tserlin@techinedu.com.au www.techinedu.com.au
FROM THE EDITORS
A long awaited, and much requested, feature has finally been announced. You now have the ability to add audio to Google Slides- it will appear in the Insert drop-down menu. As it is a gradual rollout, some users have it now, whilst for others it’s coming. The potential to be used in the classroom is huge- narrating writing, explaining learning, character interviews, language teachers and so much more. One caveat to consider is that it will not include a built in audio recorder. Therefore students will need to record using a third party voice recorder, then insert the MP3 file into Slides. Google Guru, Eric Curts walks you through the best (simplest) online voice recorders. What you now know as Team Drive is about to get a new name. Google have announced that Team Drives will be renamed “Shared Drives”. The rationale seems cloudy and am pretty sure it’ll create more confusion than clarity. For example you can have a shared folder in My Drive and now you can have a folder in a Shared Drive- two different places but far too similar sounding. Sort it out please Google!
Shared Drive
TEAM DRIVE
G SUite updates
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SLIDES
There are often little insignificant updates to GMail, but this one is a big winner for teachers. This handy addition to GMail (on the web or mobile) allows you to draft an email and then schedule it to send at a later date. Particularly useful for school teachers who don’t want to be seen emailing parents at 9pm (even though that’s when you’re working). Simply schedule it for 8am the following day and GMail will do the rest. New Google Sites (not sure how long we have to keep saying “new” for?) has added image carousels. You can now upload multiple pictures and have them display in a neat and tidy carousel that can be toggled by the user like a slide show. At this stage there is no option for auto play.
GMAIL
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COMING SOON
SITES
From the creators of Makey Makey... Announced in late May, check out this exciting new device that blends gaming (students hooked immediately) and coding. Read about it here and even back it on Kick Starter if you want your hands on it asap!
Dear Google Slides, Thanks for being a super reliable tool in the classroom. Love how my students can present their work but after you’ve seen it done, like all the time, it’s a little tiring. Got any other tricks? Signed, Nearly Every Middle to Senior Teacher I recently had the pleasure of working with Year 3 on a project that focused on the properties of sahpes, measurement, design, materials as well as persuasive techniques in language. The design challenge was to plan, build and sell a new piece of Lego. Students would create their own Lego kit that was ‘missing’ a piece that Lego had not yet designed. Their task was to create that new piece using a 3D printer and then ‘sell’ it to Lego through a persuasive pitch scenario, Shark Tank style. I have sometimes found that teaching and learning aspects of 2D shapes and 3D objects can be a bit tricky to conceptualise and link to anything of real value to students. As an introduction, students were given a design challenge to construct and replicate particular objects with a limited amount of Lego. Questioning such as ‘what did we need?’ and ‘what could we have built if...?’ was a great way to lead into the design brief. Before students started working on their Lego design, I assigned them the task of designing and building a simple bubble wand. This allowed students the chance to sandbox and become familiar with the TinkerCAD interface and its tools. The amount of printer filament needed for this was quite minimal and students were excited to be taking home a product they had designed and share their excitement with peers. Measuring individual Lego bricks and Lego creations I had pre-made, students could demonstrate their prior knowledge of measurement, shape and object recognition. This assessment of knowledge and understanding informed me of what specific concepts students needed to be introduced to in order to broaden their depth and understanding. When students looked really closely at the Lego, they were quite astonished by the intricacies and precision of the pieces. The focus on formal units of measurement, the need for precise measurement and the tools we use to measure really enhanced students’ engagement. With pre-planning involved, I made sure to have designs pre-built that were ‘off’ by 1 or 2mm, to show how only the slightest error can result in a design success or failure. Investigation was undertaken about the types of pieces Lego has already created, with students asked to consider why particular parts are more popular than others. This, along with the design process and their reasoning for the creation of their new Lego piece, formed the basis for their Shark Tank presentation.
Get animating with google slides
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It’s time to spice up your students’ use of Google Slides with a little animating flavour. Follow the guide below to learn how your students can create some killer animations using Slides. Don’t use Slides, never fear - this works in PowerPoint too! Insider Tips Before you Animate Select a small scene to animate as animation takes a long time (if it’s a good one). Excerpt of a scene is perfect and still powerful Students to storyboard the scene to assist in visualisation and to know what comes next in the animation Set the task for homework as well as during class time Extension Task - capture the animation using Screencastify Keyboard Shortcuts & Tips CTRL D - Duplicate (Chrome/PC) CMD D - Duplicate (Mac) To group a shape: Click the 1st shape, hold down shift, then click all the remainder shapes, right click then click on group ALT (mouse) CLICK - Duplicates a shape View The Journey Animation (Google Slides)
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CYBER safety POSTERS for your classroom
Posters designed by Guest Writer- Rob Kelly Perfect for your middle and senior primary classroom walls! Enjoy these colourful cyber safety posters as a FREE download courtesy of teacher and multimedia learning specialist, Rob Kelly.
ISSUE 7 / JUNE 2019
#sponsored Okay, so like most schools it’s time to replace your interactive whiteboards (IWBs). What to buy? So many choices and not enough time to run through all the options yourself. Fear not! One of our roles in schools is to organise the purchasing of hardware and we have tested all the major products when it comes to replacing your R.I.P. IWBs. Let us introduce the concept of an interactive panel. An interactive panel looks like a TV (slightly thicker in dimension), comes in all different sizes, is able to be wall or trolley mounted and is TOUCH. Our top pick that ICT EDU Magazine recommends to its own schools is the BenQ Interactive Panel. To be technical the RP7501K 75”. The panel itself comes in a 65” (RP6501K), 75” (RP7501K) and 86” (RP8601K) if size matters. The Panel Itself The BenQ Interactive Panel is a quality product. The 4K UHD is aesthetically pleasing as it appears to look like a normal TV. It blends into the classroom space with its design focus being on the learning rather than the busy hardware. The BenQ Interactive Panel has clear visibility (anti glare) from all viewing angles for students and teachers which means there isn’t a need to close the classroom blinds when viewing media. The RP7501K panel has a built in Android OS kit that allows you to use the panel without attaching a laptop/computer. This is a brilliant feature for teachers as it frees up the use of their laptop as well provides a device for emergency teachers so learning can continue as normal. Alternatively, you a can connect your laptop, Chromebook or Mac to the panel, wirelessly or via HDMI cable. It also packs a CO2 level indicator to monitor air quality and smart eye care solution (flicker free and low blue light technology). All About Touch Let’s talk TOUCH. The panel has 10 points of multi touch interactivity (Android kit) and 20 points of touch if connected to a Windows computer. The touch functionality can be with fingers or the two pens supplied. The brilliance is you can have multiple students working collaboratively on the panel recording ideas, annotating text, images or even web pages. The panel is loaded with some nice classroom care features such as the germ resistant screen, handy indeed as there will be lots of little hands touching the screen. EZWrite 5.0 - Built in Whiteboarding Software Time to talk software. So this is where other panels we have played with generally fall down. The software is what makes or breaks an interactive panel. EZWrite 5.0 is feature packed with tools to enhance learning and teaching, but best of all is super simple to use. Click play to see EZWrite 5.0 in action:
BENQ INTERACTIVE panel - the panel for your school
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The clarity of image is crucially important in art. The images are clear and the differentiation between the colour tones are sharp. - Amanda Heggen, Visual Arts Teacher
Mind Blowing Feature Award The feature that blew our minds in the EZWrite software is the ability to share your whiteboarding screen with students on their device. Students scan the QR code and can instantly collaborate on the learning together. Drop sticky notes, annotate and give everyone in the classroom a voice. Connecting Devices The panel operates without a device (thanks to its Android OS) but mirroring your computer or laptop to the BenQ interactive panel is as simple as a single click. BenQ’s software (InstaQShare) allows you to mirror your screen (wirelessly) to the interactive panel. Not only does it mirror, it makes it interactive and touch capable. This is available for Windows & Mac. You also have the “old fashioned” option of plugging in any device via HDMI cable. Click play to see the BenQ inteactive panel function overview For iPad Users/Classrooms For the iPad users out there, connecting an iPad is a breeze via Airplay. Share and showcase your students work with the whole class #effortless. Teacher Testimonials
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Our BenQ's have been a great investment. We love using the writing EZ whiteboard. It writes smoothly and accurately and using the 10 touch point feature means that more than one student can use it at the one time. - Penny Hansen, DT Leader & Classroom Teacher
I love how you can write on one panel then push the content to next door’s panel too. - Margaret Warren, Classroom Teacher
I love how students can Airplay to the panel and see their work straight away. Love the stopwatch and countdown timer. It’s very visual. - Jenny Freeland, Classroom Teacher
Wishlist The Android kit does not run Google apps (Drive, Docs, Slides etc.) natively. We found the workaround for this is to simply open Drive, Docs etc. on your laptop and mirror your screen, which still allows for interactivity. Tech Specs 4K UHD panel Front facing in built soundbar 5 USB ports 3 X HDMI in 1 HDMI out - ability to daisy chain the panel to another panel VGA input 2 microphones (1 on the front of the panel, 1 on the back input) Ability to push out apps wirelessly via the DMS - Device Management System. This is a new feature that we tested and it works Use NFC cards to create teacher accounts so that they can access their profile on the panel. Save work to your local network, Google Drive or One Drive See full technical specifications here Final Word If you’re considering purchasing an IWB replacement, look no further than the BenQ Interactive Panel. In order for any device to be successful in a school setting it must be two things: reliable (simple and works every time) as well as enhancing learning & teaching. The BenQ interactive panel ticks both boxes and should be on your 2019 shortlist. Contact LWT for more information and pricing on the BenQ Interactive Panel.
ISSUE 5 / JANUARY 2019
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One of the most universally used tools in primary classrooms is without a doubt, Google Classroom. Whilst many teachers are drawn to its ease of use to post announcements, share links and manage workflow, there is a deeper level in which Classroom can be used to enhance learning and teaching. How many of the following have you tried?
Increase student autonomy By simply posting your own screencasts or ready made ones (Khan Academy etc.), you can empower students to learn at their own pace. Small groups can be using the digital resource while you teach face to face with another group. HINT: post on the Classwork tab as a ‘Material’ under the relevant topic to ensure the video is easy to access. Not everything has to be an ‘Assignment’ if there isn’t anything to ‘turn in’. Differentiate for learning styles When posting an assignment, allow students to “Add” evidence of their learning in whatever format they choose (within reason!)- images, videos, voice recording, screencast, Doc, or Slides. This element of choice is not only engaging for students, it caters for different learning styles.
LEVel up with google classroom
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Make Learning Visible Use Classroom to share out a single Doc or Slides presentation that each student can edit. This collaborative approach to learning allows students to see and learn from their peers. It not only supports weaker students by scaffolding their learning, but it provides an audience for student writing. I like to also share my expectations about writing in a shared Doc- Golden Rules of Team Writing. Amplify student voice Pose a short answer question (ensure it’s open ended) and students reply with their opinion. Importantly, don’t stop the lesson there. Encourage students to then read each other’s responses and leave comments. Use the “Guide to Commenting” to help scaffold appropriate digital commenting.
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Looking for a long lasting relationship? Follow on us Facebook and don't forget to share the ICT EDU MAG love with your teacher friends. www.facebook.com/ictedumag
Formative assessment and feedback A super simple but very powerful use of Classroom is to post an ‘exit ticket’ for students to complete. You, as the teacher, can get a clear insight into how students are progressing with their learning. Other ideas for exit tickets: 3 things you learnt 1 question you still have specific content related multiple choice question
JOIN THE TEAM: gUEST WRITER
www.ictedumag.com
Last issue we mentioned we changed our tagline to focus to include all teachers, not just 'leaders' in technology. We're calling on you to be our advocates to champion the magazine to all teachers who are passionate about getting better. Share with your staff what you love about the mag, encourage them to subscribe and also hit up our website for all of our articles. We've built a new website, allowing you to search for articles and select what you're interested in. Help us spread the enthusiasm for using technology to enhance learning and teaching. Our students deserve teachers who are always pursuing best practice.
We are proud to have a growing team of talented guest writers and would love you to join us! We're looking for thought leaders in the EdTech space to be official ICTEDUMAG Guest Writers. All you need is passion, an idea and a willingness to share. We are particularly keen to see lesson examples, photos, videos and how you have brought an idea to life. It can be anything that utilises technology to enhance learning and teaching. If you're interested, simply send your article or reach out to us at hello@ictedumag.com and we will be in touch.
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HELP us BUILD THE MAG
Whilst many schools now have access to robots (Spheros, Beebots, Ozobots, You-name-it-bots), the #1 challenge is how to meaningfully integrate their use. Rebecca shares an interesting way she utilised Ozobots to enhance her school’s Geography focused unit. I wanted to integrate their weekly STEAM sessions with their Inquiry unit through the use of Ozobot Evos. Senior students were posed the question “If not us, who? If not here, where?” for our Geography themed unit. The focus was exploring refugees, migration and countries in our world. Integrating their ongoing learning into the weekly STEAM robotics sessions made for an engaging and relevant unit of work. Did you know? Ozobots can be coded in two different ways: Colour Codes: Using coloured markers and paper (no screens needed) Ozoblockly: Using block coding (like Scratch) on www.ozoblockly.com. The code is then transferred to the Ozobot by placing the bot on the screen and receiving a series of flashing lights.
Written by Guest Writer - Rebecca Todisco (e-Learning & STEAM Leader) e-Learning & STEAM Leader Naughtin
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circumnavigating tech integration with ozobots
Process of Discovery, Coding and Applying Explore robotics in the world around us (where and why do we see robots?) Establish expectations, responsibilities and roles (including staff) Colour Coding Challenge: in pairs students had an A3 page landscape that they drew a path from one side to the other. Then as a class we aligned the page edges and the challenge was to see if we could get the Ozobot to make it across all of the A3 pages. Making us all successful colour coders! Patterns and sequencing: Order matters, although some codes can be symmetrical (meaning either way you turn it, Ozobot will read the same order of colors) Debugging: if your code isn’t clear then Ozobot’s decisions are random with no logic behind them. Ozoblockly.com - learn to calibrate, load and run the program Challenge: Once students were prepared in both their geography learning and their coding skills, students were set the task of representing the journey of Ferdinand Magellan (The first person to circumnavigate the globe). After cutting out and assembling paper continents, students used the OzoBlockly language to program an Ozobot Evo to navigate around the continents along the path Magellan took. Along the way students labelled different parts of the world’s geography. Student Quote: “When we started we all realised what an important part the lines played in the coding. The project was fun and helped us to get a better understanding of coding and how we can use it to help other people or solve problems.” Annabelle
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FOR STUDENTS
FOR PARENTS
BRING a cyber safety expert to your school
share Your students' tech interest
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To clarify this further, it does not mean we should be wearing our fingers out playing Fortnite but rather taking an interest and talking with our young people about their online hobbies. Just like we would ask students about how they went at footy or dance or scouts, we need to start talking "tech". So what to talk about it? We asked our Grade 6 student writer, Mohan, to share some insights: Middle Primary Roblox and Minecraft dominate gaming Popular single player mobile games: Subway Surf and Helix Jump Favourite YouTube videos include “fails” and “try not to laugh” Senior Primary Fortnite, Clash of Clans, NBA 2K19 (Basketball) & Undertale are most popular games Instagram, Snapchat as well as streaming apps like Netflix & Stan Watching game reviews as well as “fails” Browsing memes is also a popular way to enjoy online time To get a broader insight into what our students enjoy online, we are asking the ICT EDU Magazine community to have their students complete the following survey. It is completely anonymous and all results will be made available next issue. You are then welcome to use the results in your class to bring your maths lessons to life with relevant and engaging data. www.bit.ly/digitalhabits2019
'A sure fire way to open up the lines of communication and build relationships is for teachers (and parents) to share their children's tech interest" Carley McGauran- Psychologist and Cyber Safety Educator
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1300 PLEXUSIT www.plexusit.com.au
At plexusIT, we make it our goal to stay up to date with current technology practices in education. We will see you in Sydney at EduTech 2019.
Assessment tools for specialist teachers
Written by Guest Writer- Maree Shields Focus on Physical Education Over the last 12 years of my teaching career, I have been teaching the Movement and Physical Activity strand of the HPE curriculum, as a specialist teacher. Over this time, with the introduction of newer technologies to our school, the way I assess student progress, and have evidence to back it up, has changed. My main tool has changed from a class list with items to check off or mark when the students have completed them, to the use of an Apple iPad, with the iDoceo (app) and Seesaw (digital portfolio). Sounds complicated but it really isn’t. Starting with iDoceo (iPad app) iDoceo is an iPad paid app that replaces your hard copy teacher focus book. It’s an electronic grade book that you can insert, videos, images, voice recordings, anecdotal notes, ticks, crosses, smiley/sad faces marks the roll & creates rubrics. It does more, but let’s continue on… After teaching a particular skill, and giving the students ample time to practise and refine that skill, I will use the iDoceo app to record the students performing the skill. Depending on what the activity is, I will have the students working in small groups and either practising the skill at the same time, or working at tabloid activities, while I record each student either individually or working with one or two others. The iDoceo app allows you to record videos and, depending on how you set up your device, have them saved to the iPads camera roll, directly to Google Drive, or simply in the iDoceo app itself.
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Doing this means that you have that evidence saved against a students name in your gradebooks, and gives the ability to add a comment, a rubric to score performance against, and grade the students performance, all in one place. Moving Evidence onto Seesaw Seesaw is a digital portfolio tool that is accessible by parents, students and teachers. Once the video is recorded, it can then be exported from iDoceo to Seesaw. Each student at my school has a Seesaw digital portfolio allowing parents and teachers to see the learning that is happening. This means the video I have captured for my own assessment purposes can be shared via Seesaw instantly. A double win. The video or photo taken is accompanied by the learning intention for the skill and the success criteria the students were asked to follow. By adding this with the video, the students’ parents then have a better idea of the skills and activities that have been assessed to determine the students’ marks on their reports. Students and parents are able to view and comment on the students’ progress within the app. Assessment uploaded to Seesaw Using this technology has not altered the organisation of the lessons I teach, but has made me more confident in my assessment abilities, as I have the evidence right there, and I can ask my colleagues to watch the videos too, if I have any doubts, rather than relying on my memories of the students doing the skill.
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Written by Student Guest Writer Zahli
steps to becoming a dj - STUDENT GUIDE
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A step by step student guide on how your students can make some noise and learn to create your own music. Warning: Headphones required during production time. Creating your own song isn’t as hard as you may think. All you need is a Chromebook, internet connection (to access Soundtrap), a pair of headphones and a committed work ethic. Follow the student guide and you will be right on your way to becoming your own DJ.
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STEP BY STEP READY TO USE THIS ARVO
Step 1 - Lyrics Brainstorm Starting is usually the hardest bit. You first want to start with finding a topic that you are interested in. Most likely your teacher will provide you with one. Have a brainstorm about words that are related to the topic or rhyme with each other. A good resource for rhyming is Rhyme Zone. A simple to use website that really helped the process of creating my song. Step 2 - Lyric Construction Using the brainstorm, start writing your lyrics. Writing the verses firstly will help you write a catchy chorus. If you’re not sure, just repeat lyrics I did “Google Docs (duh, duh, duh, duh, duh) X 4” Step 3 - Create your Melody Finding your melody is all about trial and error. Put your lyrics against the different melodies to find the right one. The melody for my song went throughout the whole song and I based the rest of the song on that melody. Step 4 - Finding a Beat A beat is a very important part of your song. It must accompany the melody, help build your song up and make it the best it can be. I found my beat by trying to find something with a similar beat to my melody and continually playing it over and over until it was just right. Step 6 - Snazzy Extras Don't forget about the snazzy stuff for your song. Add those beats and instruments that give your song some personality!
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Step 5 - Building the Chorus The chorus is something that has to be catchy, not just the lyrics but the beat as well! Make sure the song matches your lyrics and the rest of the song. A chorus is usually something that people remember for a song, so make it stand out! Step 6 - Snazzy Extras Don't forget about the snazzy stuff for your song. Add those beats and instruments that give your song some personality! Watch Zahli's video tutorial below to learn how to create your very own track.
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ISSUE #8 OUT ON JULY 21st
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If you've got this far you've clearly taken the time to read this amazing publication and filled your head with boundless professional learning. To reward yourself and satisfy those teacher PD hours, click below to receive your very own certificate for the hours spent learning.
ISSUE #6 Prize winner ...
Congratulations to Janica Morella on winning a ticket to attend the July EdTechTeam summit of her choice!
How would you like to supercharge your learning thanks to 2 days of inspiring PD? Coming to Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne this July, the new summits are designed to transform your classroom and inspire student creativity.