Issue 115
Term 4 2020
Website and app reviews
Websites and apps reviewed for school library staff
NZ Parliament: Educators and Students
parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/educators-and-students
The New Zealand Parliament’s education staff have produced a thorough and contemporary resource relating to the workings of parliament. Features include a virtual reality tour, outreach programs, videos, a role-play and an interactive timeline.
SCIS no: 1981836
Museum of Australian Democracy: Digital Excursions
The Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House is a living museum of social and political history, located in a nationally listed heritage building in Parkes, Canberra. It helps people to understand Australia’s social and political history by interpreting the past and present and exploring the future. This website includes free digital excursions to allow students to interact with MoAD’s educators in real time. K–12 students can participate in activities including role-plays, discussions and quizzes related to the Australian Curriculum.
SCIS no: 1982042
Be Deadly Online
esafety.gov.au/educators/classroomresources/be-deadly-online
Developed under the auspices of the eSafety Commissioner, this website delves into aspects of cyberbullying and digital reputation. Created by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this resource provides secondary teachers with videos, lesson plans, and student-directed learning and web content.
SCIS no: 1981859
Art Education Victoria
Art Education Victoria is a non-profit organisation that supports and represents art teachers in Victoria. This encompassing website provides access to a variety of primary and secondary teaching resources, professional development opportunities, exhibition details, posters and links.
SCIS no: 1981869
Augmented Reality in Education
apple.com/au/education/k12/docs/ar-in-edulesson-ideas-AU.pdf
Apple has produced an informative guide to the use of augmented reality in the classroom, using iPads. The PDF document offers creative lesson ideas on a variety of topics, complete with embedded hot links. Teachers are encouraged to incorporate the learning opportunities that AR offers into their existing lessons.
SCIS no: 1981877
Autism CRC
The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC) focuses on a whole-of-life approach to autism. The website provides resources, publications, research and news for the autism community of educators, clinicians and service providers. Of particular relevance to teachers is the section on enhancing teaching and learning.
SCIS no: 1982050
inclusionED
A learning community for educators, inclusionED provides ‘evidence-based and researched-informed teaching practices and tools to support diverse learners in inclusive classrooms’. Research partners include several state education departments, independent education bodies and four universities.
SCIS no: 1982053
National Geographic Education: Resource Library
nationalgeographic.org/education/resourcelibrary
Thousands of extensive, authoritative resources are available on this K–12 website. The site is searchable by topic and can be filtered by subject area, content type and year level.
SCIS no: 1982054
QUT Young Accelerators
qut.edu.au/study/career-advisers-andteachers/young-accelerators
This is an award-winning program run by QUT for secondary STEM students, chiefly based in Queensland and northern New South Wales. The aim is to support future leaders in the STEM field by offering workshops, a STEM camp, internships and resources.
SCIS no: 1982103
Reef Tracks: Marine Life Tracker
citizensgbr.org/explore/reef-tracks
Reef Tracks is an inspirational website focused on increasing awareness of the marine environment of the Great Barrier Reef. Using data from authoritative sources such as James Cook University and backed by partners including Microsoft, users are encouraged to increase their knowledge about the Reef and connect with conservation projects. Younger students can link to Junior Citizens of the Reef.
SCIS no: 1982114
Save Whales
This intriguing website aims to assist in the preservation of whales. The visuals and audio showcase several species of whales and are accompanied by a variety of easily grasped facts and comparative data. Specifics on ways to help save whales are included.
SCIS no: 1982133
Science by Doing
Supported by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment, this comprehensive website is for science students in years 7–10. Content is linked to the Australian Curriculum and covers biological science, Earth and space science, chemical science and physical science. Particular attention is paid to assisting remote learning in response to COVID-19.
SCIS no: 1681000
Nigel Paull
Teacher Librarian
North Coast, NSW