Khan Academy announces a new partnership - brings lots of new free apps!

Khan Academy has today announced that they have acquired Duck Duck Moose, a created of children's apps and they are now free. To see the full list of apps, visit the app store.


My son has loved More Trucks for quite some time. Below are a few educational ones that I'll draw your attention to:

Chatterpix (and Chatterpix Kids) allow simple creativity with photographs for children, such as to make a photo of a person talk, add stickers and fun.

Duck Duck Moose reading. There is also a Maths app and many other educational subject specific apps.

BOSTES is no longer, the NSW Education Standards Authority is taking over! What this means for you...

What's in a name change?

So, the name is going to change. We have only had "BOSTES" for a few years (since 2014), with the merging of the "Board of Studies" and "Institute of Teachers" in NSW. At this time, the organisation went through a lengthy process of rebranding everything with their new 'orange books' logo. They are now turning around and putting more money into rebranding once again as they become the "Education Standards Authority" (ESA).

What is the change in powers for Registration and Accreditation?

1. Reduce the administrative burden of School Registration

2. It appears that Principals will have more power (and responsibility) to certify the existence of documentary evidence.

3. They seek to increase the number of random and risk-based audits in Independent, Systemic and Government Schools.

Will anything change in the way Curriculum is implemented?

1. Remove duplication of syllabus writing between BOSTES and ACARA. One of the goals of ESA (referred to as 'The Authority" by the BOSTES review, but as ESA by me) is to "Streamline curriculum development process with a more constructive approach to the national curriculum roll-out that removes duplication and expedites syllabus development". This means in essence that the duplication where BOSTES was writing a syllabus re-worked version of the ACARA Australian Curriculum seems quite logical. It made no sense, if the curriculum was truly to be "Australian" for NSW to decide to write their own documents.

The new model will be "adopt and adapt" to reduce overcrowding. This will free up resources (apparently / hopefully) to focus on improving teaching and learning. This will be hard for many in NSW to stomach, but from a holistic perspective, I welcome this change.

2. Future syllabuses will support increased flexibility for teachers so that students can go deeper. Whilst depth is important, it is also essential that we do not deny the value of surface-level knowledge as Hattie would argue.

What will change for Teacher Accreditation

1. For Teachers. The Maintenance of accreditation at Proficient level will be streamlined if schools have a Performance and Development Framework in place (which they must, according to AITSL)

2. For Schools. At present, when a teacher is accredited at Proficient Teacher, there is a detailed checking of documents that occurs by both BOSTES staff and independent consultants. This will be minimised to focus on consistency (which was its original aim) rather than the many man-hours that goes into the current process. In effect the TAA (the School Principal in many cases) will be given more power in not only signing off a teacher's Proficient Teacher Accreditation, but also in validating the documents are completed.

3. For Professional Development Providers. The approval process to become a registered provider (QTC) will be simplified.

For the future...

Recommended for further investigation is:
- HSC Disability adjustments
- Early Childhood educaiton
- VET
- Home Schooling

Click below for links to the review, overview and media release.

Promoting the #DeviceFreeDinner from @CommonSense

There are some places where devices don't belong... and yes the dinner table is one of those! Let's strive for good relationships with our children by having deep conversation over dinner, rather than being 2 adults and 2 children co-habiting the same house!

The argument 15 years ago was about watching television whilst at the dinner table, but it has become even harder now with the mobile phone and tablet devices and it's not just the children! Often it is the example of the parents taking a work phone call at the dinner table, reading the newspaper online or checking facebook that is demonstrated to children. It is a travesty to see a family in a restaurant with all members with heads buried in phones... often with the kids with headphones on just to make sure that no communication happens!

Dinner is not the only place this is an issue, but it is a great place to start. So, will you take the DeviceFreeDinner Challange that Common Sense has put before us?

Sign up for tips to make this a reality: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/device-free-dinner

I certainly don't have all the answers. There are definitely those nights where it is easier to let the tired 5 and 7 year old watch something on their iPad rather than struggle through getting them to eat their dinner and have some interaction, particularly after a hard day at work, but it's important to make the effort!

Training your children in good habits starts at a young age! Do you realise what you are doing and demonstrating at the dinner table?

Washington Post Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/08/05/can-you-survive-a-device-free-dinner/

Videos from CommonSenseMedia

Why the call to make Algebra optional in the US takes them in the wrong direction!

 One of the myths is that every one of us is going to have to know algebra, geometry, trigonometry in the 21st century, because that’s the way a high-tech age is going. (Andrew Hacker)

Algebra is a core component of Algebra in the US. Andrew Hacker argues that only 5% of the workforce uses Advanced Mathematics in the US, which is the incorrect starting point. It is not the content that is taught in Mathematics that is essential for all school leavers, it is residuals of learning that are key - the mathematical thinking, the problem solving and mathematical literacy that all citizens need. To be fair, Andrew Hacker does focus on a move to literacy; however, how can you promote mathematical literacy without rigorous content as the context in which to teach that literacy? Yes, Numeracy can be taught in subject such as Science and Geography (and I would argue in all subjects, even English), but there also needs to be significant thought in an abstract manner.

We need to focus on the residuals of learning - what is it that students take out of our classes and continue to hold on to long after they have forgotten Pythagoras' Theorem?

What is the impact for Australia?

There is of course some merit to his argument, that for some students applications of mathematics (arithmetic) would be of more benefit than calculus. So, how does all of this sit in Australia? The Australian Curriculum as formed in NSW Syllabus documents has a balance of algebra that is required in the junior years, through to optional courses in the senior years of General Mathematics that focuses on real world applications and the calculus based courses.

The curriculum in NSW is undergoing change at the moment and the increase of statistical numeracy for all students studying a Mathematics course is a welcomed step forward.

See the video where Andrew Hacker argues for reform in his book "The Math Myth":

Source: PBS, 6 August 2016, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/thinking-math-terms-literacy-not-levels/

I'm concerned that the HSC reforms will increase stress and anxiety, not reduce them.

One of the significant aims of the reforms to the HSC that have now been released, was to reduce the stress and anxiety in our senior students.

Do we know what causes the anxiety? I would argue that we have not thoroughly investigated the causes of the anxiety, much of which could be attributable to changes in society and family situations such as both parents working longer hours. If we do not know what causes the anxiety in students and only try and attack the problems students have one at a time through psychologist visits, then we are unlikely to have the impact we desire.

Why less Assessment Tasks could increase anxiety. It makes perfect sense that if we reduce the number of assessment tasks, then we will reduce the anxiety in our students. This may not be the case. To take the extreme view (which has not been proposed) and remove all internal assessment, surely stress would decline. This may be true throughout the year, but stress and anxiety over the one high stakes exam would skyrocket. With 3 tasks in Year 11, the most likely situation is 2 x 30% tasks and 1 x 40% task, which means that each of these becomes increasingly important.

How were assessments different in the past? When I was in school, you did not necessarily know about tasks ahead of time, there was no 'formal notification' and you just showed up and did the task. There were probably more tasks to complete, but each of them was of little importance to the final grade (10%) but useful for bench marking what content you had actually learnt and what you needed to revise (Assessment for Learning).

Surely investigation tasks are great... or are they? In my experience, it seems to be the ongoing investigation style tasks that create the greatest anxiety for students with mental health concerns. There is always something more that they can do to improve, add to and work on an investigation until it is handed in. Where do you start? There are weeks of agonising over a long-term task like this, even if it is restricted to class time.

I applaud BOSTES for trying to reduce stress and anxiety in our students, but I am concerned that the proposed reforms may have the opposite impact.


If you suffer from anxiety, then consult a psychologist of call lifeline on 13 11 14