Yesterday I listened to an interview with Dr Jane Orton, the director of Melbourne University's Chinese Teacher Training Centre. She made two critical and obvious points. First, education is a state matter and as a nation we would benefit from a national languages curriculum. Secondly, she explained that the top results in studies of Chinese … Continue reading What do we do about the decline of Bahasa #Indonesia in #Australia?
Tag: education
Digital archives transforming the study of history
Beginning the study of Modern History at the University of Sydney, years ago, I was abruptly made aware of the radical difference between what was then taught in NSW secondary schools as history, and the reality of contemporary historical scholarship. School history, in those days, was taught from the text book. Any sense of differences … Continue reading Digital archives transforming the study of history
Swimming with Maslow in the digiverse
Whenever I start to think about the digiverse I'm drawn to the analogy of water and swimming. Learning to swim is something children will do naturally, particularly if the element of fear is reduced or eliminated. Some believe that children should learn to swim while still infants. Certainly, in utero they had an affinity with … Continue reading Swimming with Maslow in the digiverse
Sydney Urban Growth and Decline 2011: Student observations updated
Last November I published the first of these wordles, by way of summarising the language used by my students who had written reports on a field study project conducted earlier in the year. My students completed a field study around the Sydney Harbour foreshore from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay. This was part of a … Continue reading Sydney Urban Growth and Decline 2011: Student observations updated
Reflecting on #Pedagogical Implications of Technology and the #Digiverse
Imagining the future in the 1960s Back when I completed my Diploma in Education our lecturers invited us to think about the knowledge and skill sets embedded in current curricula. We were asked to reflect on just how appropriate they might be for the schools that we were about to enter and the children who … Continue reading Reflecting on #Pedagogical Implications of Technology and the #Digiverse
A small digital initiative in teaching School Certificate Geography
In the hurly burly of media driven assessment of education these days, the general public is often deprived of basic information about some of the success stories in Australian schools. My own state, NSW, in particular has a rigorous and contemporary approach to teaching and learning, combining the best of traditional and contemporary strategies. One … Continue reading A small digital initiative in teaching School Certificate Geography
Sydney Urban Growth and Decline: Student observations
Earlier this year my students completed a field study around the Sydney Harbour foreshore from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay. This was part of a major unit of work within the syllabus topic: Issues in the Australian Environment. A description of my approach is found here. The project was supported by the SSC Leichhardt Geography … Continue reading Sydney Urban Growth and Decline: Student observations
Gathering Images of #Urban zones in #Sydney for a #DERNSW Project
Preparing learning materials frequently involves issues of copyright particularly if the plan is to make them available beyond the classroom. In my experience most copyright holders, unless they're specifically trying to make a dollar out of education, are only too obliging when it comes to allowing use of their materials. Recently I was puzzling over … Continue reading Gathering Images of #Urban zones in #Sydney for a #DERNSW Project
Urban Growth and decline a #DERNSW Research project
In Early December I posted an initial outline of an action research project I've been working on. The project addresses that part of the NSW Stage 5 Geography Syllabus in which Students learn about geographical issues affecting Australian environments. There's a variety of possible areas of study, and students must cover two of these. At … Continue reading Urban Growth and decline a #DERNSW Research project
The #Ubud Experience: Returning to the #Village after 8 Years
The Ubud Experience Ubud Writers' Feastival is for many the comtemporarty face of Ubud. In successfully nurturing this event from infancy to it's present global standing Janet De Neefe has added another layer to way Ubud is understood. In former times Ubud was known as a special place set on a broad ridge above the … Continue reading The #Ubud Experience: Returning to the #Village after 8 Years
Russell Darnley Blog 