iPads are becoming increasingly prevalent in schools and offer significant potential as both a compositional and pedagogical tool in general music classes. In this article, I discuss a composition activity that I implemented with general primary/elementary music classes in Australia. This activity involved using iPads, namely the apps iMovie and…

The Early Learning STEM Australia (ELSA) pilot was a year-long investigation involving 300 educators and 4 500 four-year old children in one hundred learning centres across Australia. This paper reports on a pedagogical and design framework that was constructed to promote children's STEM engagement across digital and non-digital learning…

In this paper, an example is offered of a problem-solving task for senior secondary school students which was given in the context of a story. As the story unfolds, the task requires progressively more complex forms of linear programming to be applied. Coding in MATLAB is used throughout the task in such a way that it supports the increasing…

Mobile technologies have been described as 'boundary' objects which enable teachers and learners to transcend many of the barriers such as rigid schedules and spaces which have hitherto characterised traditional forms of education. However, educators need to better understand how to design learning scenarios which genuinely exploit the unique…

Maree Skillen provides a practical guide to using the free, Skitch app to promote mathematical exploration and understanding. Five activities are provided, with links made to the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.

iPads are beginning to appear in more and more primary classrooms, yet it is difficult to find teaching ideas that promote deep mathematical understanding. Catherine Attard provides a list of teaching considerations to be used when using iPads and two practical ideas for using them.

For many people, mobile phones are a part of modern life. Although the purpose of this technology revolves around language and communication, its application to language learning still appears to be underutilized. This is changing, as the widespread use of this handheld technology offers numerous opportunities to use functions that are ideal for…

A critical incident is a situation or event that holds significance for learning, both for the students and teachers. This paper presents four examples of critical incidents from a Year 7 teacher's lesson excerpts in Indonesia involving teaching of fractions, to show how they shaped classroom situation, brought forward elements of conflict, and…

The desirability of using computer scheduling to allocate students into the activities (lectures, tutorials, practical classes) for courses requested and the possibility of integrating the scheduling into the enrollment process is explored. Although computer scheduling is now widely used in American universities, at Australian universities the…

Rapid Profile, developed by Manfred Pienemann of National Languages Institute of Australia/Language Acquisition Research Centre, is a computer-based procedure for screening speech samples collected from language learners to assess their level of language development as compared to standard patterns in the acquisition of the target language. Rapid…

The evolution of school policy concerning computer use in Victoria (Australia) state secondary schools is reviewed. Computer technology is conceptualized as a social phenomenon. Discussed are the origins of microcomputing as a hobby, early uses of school microcomputing in Victoria, teacher organizations concerned with computer use, national policy…

Incorporating industry training into university courses is not in itself a radically new concept. Many examples in a variety of professions have demonstrated the value of industry input into university curricula. The information technology (IT) profession is different from many others in that it has high volatility and a short shelf-life of…

This book surveys current commitment to computers in education in many countries, with emphasis on use in Australia. For discussion of computer-related programs, countries other than Australia are categorized as (1) under-developed and uncertain--China, Thailand, and Yugoslavia; (2) developed but reluctant--Japan, Germany, and Sweden; and (3)…

The use of computers in higher education teaching programs is discussed in 16 papers and reports. Applications of computers in teaching particular subjects including prehistory and anthropology, mathematics, Hindi, plant science, chemistry, language, medicine, drawing, statistics, and engineering are discussed in 10 of the contributions. The other…

A computerized system used in an Australian university school of education to allocate faculty teaching loads equitably and flexibly is described. It features reconciliation of workloads based on (1) course design and enrollment and (2) formulas relating to administration, research, and development responsibilities negotiated within the faculty.…