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Lego Friends Are they stereotyping girls play? This is a tough one and as usual this is not a black and white answer.  I have a daughter who refuses to play with the traditional Lego. In our house, it is called "Boys Lego". When I asked her why, she told me "They (traditional lego people) have angry faces" and "they have yellow faces". I decided to have a close look at the Lego aisle. It consists of Star Wars, space ships, pirates, cars and trucks. Accessories include racing cars, weapons and space craft. I would like to argue Lego has been stereotyping play long before the introduction of Lego Friends. In Lego's defence we live in a regional area and do not have the range of choice, that city dwellers have, in our stores. Please comment below on your experience particularly if you live in the city. Since the introduction of Lego Friends my daughter is more interested in playing with Lego. She loves the encyclopaedia and keeping ...

21 st Century Learning Projects for a new paradigm Innovation Integrator at St Columba Anglican School (SCAS), Meridith Ebbs, shares some of the ground-breaking ways technology has been incorporated into the curriculum at the school. St Columba Anglican School is in it’s 14 th year and is located in Port Macquarie on the mid north coast of NSW. Four years ago the decision was made to migrate the school to the cloud and implement a voluntary bring your own device program. In the past 4 years there has been significant investment in technology and staff training. Many staff now use technology on a daily basis. Implementing technology also requires a commitment to evolving pedagogy. To assist all staff to continue to evolve their teaching methods requires continued support for staff financially and physically with training and flexible resources. Being a regional school attending professional development in the city can be costly so the school committed to employing ski...

In 2015 SCAS launched student courses that use a blended format. A combination of face to face and online delivery. Year 8 have been offered the elective Computational Thinking. The course is being facilitated online over a semester and currently has five students enrolled. Students are timetabled to attend classes and all content is delivered via a Google Classroom and a Google Site. This class is still in it’s early days however the participating students are very enthusiastic about the course, it’s content and it’s delivery. This article will define computational thinking, outline the purpose of the course and offer reasons for the online format. The course being offered is cross curricular and offers the opportunity for students to develop skills in computational thinking, writing and reflection, covering outcomes from the English and Computer Syllabi. What is computational thinking? Computational Thinking is the process of finding a solution to open ended problems. Computation...

Registration for a conference…mmm you would there is no takeaways or learning points right? When you use social media this is not true. Registration for a conference becomes a networking opportunity to meet new people and put faces to names of people you have spoken with online. It was a privilege to meet @eric_mazur who was gracious with his time to chat and even took time for a picture. I am looking forward to his talk tomorrow on assessment. A conference is not just about learning it about connecting. When you are online there is always people to meet, catch up with and follow especially at a conference.  Before even getting to registration I bumped into @ZeinaChalich of #aussieED and @rolfek . Lots to chat about regarding Makerspaces and our latest projects. The best thing about social media is putting faces to names and there were lots of opportunities for that at Dinner on June 1. @Richardcford @roobails @jenny_kemp @deb_clarke @HostBrian @madgiem...