Microsoft Australia CEO urges schools to embrace AI revolution

Education departments in several Australian states have flagged their intentions to ban ChatGPT, but Microsoft Australia's CEO Steven Worrall says we cannot choose to opt out of the AI revolution.

<https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/microsoft-australia-ceo-urges-schools-to-embrace-ai-revolution/282298>

Children of Sydney Royal Easter Show workers taught in mobile classrooms

Travelling workers at the Sydney Royal Easter Show are making sure their children's studies continue during the busy period. The workers — known as "showies" — are often on the road year-round following the show circuit.

<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-10/travelling-showmen-sydney-royal-easter-show-school/102195526>

Embracing AI-deas

Traditional school environments were designed to encourage students to think for themselves and cultivate critical thinking skills, problem solving abilities, and originality of thought. But what happens when artificial intelligence makes it possible for students to get a robot to doing their thinking for them?

<https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/embracing-ai-deas-chatgpt/>

Robotics and embedded systems

Choose from a selection of four projects to explore programming and designing a digital solution to suit an identified need or solve a problem.

<https://www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/plan-and-prepare/scope-and-sequence-f-10/9-10-robotics-and-embedded-systems/>

The Girls In STEM Toolkit (The GIST): Explore STEM lesson plans

Browse a range of free STEM education resources, including STEM lesson plans and engaging webinars for primary and secondary students.

<https://www.thegist.edu.au/educators/stem-lesson-plans/>

Building Export Sales in the EdTech Sector

Every Australian EdTech company that generates more than $4M of revenue exports products and services around the globe. Scaling EdTech companies generate 13% of their revenue offshore, whilst the biggest companies generate an average of 37% from export. These companies are impacting learners across the globe using Australian education in a digital form.

<https://edugrowth.org.au/2023/03/15/building-export-sales-in-the-edtech-sector/>

Phone bans = bad idea. Proper parenting = good idea. It’s your call

There is a local parenting myth whereby some children were told that the ice cream van plays Greensleeves to tell everyone it has run out of ice cream. So sad, sorry kids, no ice cream left. No flakes, no sprinkles, nada. Best to go home and have some chopped carrots instead.

<https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/phone-bans-bad-idea-proper-parenting-good-idea-it-s-your-call-20230405-p5cy8v.html>

Purple Team Australia

Do you have Senior Information Technology students who identify as women and First Nations Australians and are over 18? Purple Team Australia is offering scholarship applications for those students seeking careers in IT.

<https://inteact.act.edu.au/2023/04/02/purple-team-australia/>

Webinar: Playing with ideas: Cultivating student creativity, innovation and learning in schools: 21 Apr

Description: Do schools and imagination go together? Creativity and innovation aren’t just nice words or highly demanded skills in the labour market, evidence suggests they are also key to well-being and to thriving economies . But are young people leaving education with the skills to apply knowledge and make novel connections, envision new solutions, and contribute meaningfully to their communities?

<https://meetoecd1.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_g6fstoIjTF6sGGHgxvb18A>

ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it: The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.

The response from schools and universities was swift and decisive. Just days after OpenAI dropped ChatGPT in late November 2022, the chatbot was widely denounced as a free essay-writing, test-taking tool that made it laughably easy to cheat on assignments.

<https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/06/1071059/chatgpt-change-not-destroy-education-openai/>

As ChatGPT Enters the Classroom, Teachers Weigh Pros and Cons

In November 2022, OpenAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory, launched ChatGPT, a transformative AI program. Since then, ChatGPT and its impacts on education have been the center of heated debate.

<https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/chatgpt-enters-classroom-teachers-weigh-pros-and-cons>

How Teachers Choose Apps for Their Classrooms

A study examines whether educators are more likely to select apps that have educational benchmarks or ones that feature buzzwords.

<https://www.edweek.org/technology/how-teachers-choose-apps-for-their-classrooms/2023/04>

5 Chromebook updates for students and teachers

We’re announcing new Chromebooks built for teachers and students, updates to our Screencast and cast moderator features, a new reading mode in Chrome and easier customization tools for ChromeOS admins.

<https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/chromebook-updates-2023/>

How STEM Education Improves Student Learning

Why should a child learn STEM? Perhaps they aren’t particularly interested in timetables or the periodic table (I know I wasn’t when I was a kid!), and you don’t want to force it on them.

<https://stemeducationguide.com/how-stem-education-improves-student-learning/> 

Girls Who Code Expands Partnership with MetLife Foundation to Launch New Mentorship Program

Today, Girls Who Code, a non-profit working to close the gender gap in tech, announced Mentoring Corps, a new, free mentoring initiative launching this fall. The program will connect Girls Who Code high-school students with college-aged mentors and was created in partnership with MetLife Foundation. Mentoring Corps is the latest in Girls Who Code’s efforts to support the development of older students through mentoring and leadership opportunities.

<https://girlswhocode.com/news/girls-who-code-expands-partnership-with-metlife-foundation-to-launch-new-mentorship-program>