Education Archives - Webtek Media

Using Reflect The New Microsoft Teams App

Amarah Bucknall — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 03:31:30 +0000

Introducing Microsoft Reflect, a new add-on in Microsoft Teams

How can teachers use technology to identify, track and analyse changes in their students’ cognitive, emotional, social and physical wellbeing? Microsoft Reflect is an easy-to-use app that helps you create impactful daily or weekly wellbeing student check-ins, to gain insights and build a happier and healthier learning community.

The app helps students recognize and navigate their emotions by providing regular opportunities to share and be heard. Reflect can help broaden learners’ emotional vocabulary and deepen empathy for their peers while also providing valuable feedback to educators for a healthy classroom community.

Watch video here https://youtu.be/BcX8z8WOTUg

This check-in app uses emojis and research-backed emotional granularity to support educators in adding social and emotional learning into their already busy routine.

The app provides students with a voice, enhances emotional vocabulary, deepens peer empathy and provides feedback to the teacher. Reflect is an automatic tab when creating a Microsoft Class Team. You can also type ‘reflect.new’ into your browser address bar for easy access, then share the link on any other online tool used in class. Students sign in using their @education.nsw.gov.au accounts.

Find out more at https://reflect.microsoft.com/

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Grok Academy – Free Coding For Every Australian School

Amarah Bucknall — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:43:29 +0000

Introducing Grok Academy a free online coding resource with online courses and competitions to help educators confidently bring programming into classrooms with varying skill levels. The curriculum requires all students from Years 3 – 8 to learn coding and will help teachers deliver engaging and impactful computer skills learning, at no cost.

Grok Academy platform, including all their schools’ courses, resources and content is free for every Australian student, teacher and parent.

The Learning Platform has a range of classroom-ready online courses, competitions and activities all aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies.

The Platform uses interactive notes and engaging, real world problems. Auto-marking and intelligent feedback allow your students to progress through the courses at their own pace.

Monitor your students’ activity in real-time, track their progress, and see where they are excelling and where they need assistance.

Verified teachers get free access to the Platform, including all solutions and teacher notes.

More information and sign up via https://groklearning.com/teachers/australia/.

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Free NBN Internet – School Student Broadband Initiative

Amarah Bucknall — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 02:47:34 +0000

Have you heard that the Australian Government has implemented a new School Student Broadband Initiative which can support families and their child’s education with free home internet?

This Australian Government program for families and carers with school age children who are struggling with bills, can apply until 31 December 2024, and eligible households will receive free home internet until 31 December 2025.

If applicant family qualifies, their free home internet service will begin as soon as they are connected by your chosen participating internet provider.

To qualify families must:

Have a school age student at home (full or part time) enrolled in an Australian school (up to year 12 including Prep in Qld/Vic/Tas, Kindergarten in NSW, Reception in SA, Transition in NT/ACT and Pre-Primary in WA).
Not have an active nbn® network internet service at your current residential address now or in the past 14 days. (Having a mobile internet service does not affect eligibility).
Live in a premise that can access the nbn network through a standard connection

For more information and how to apply, visit https://www.anglicarevic.org.au/student-internet/

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Create Stylized AI Images with Leonardo

Amarah Bucknall — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 02:32:55 +0000

If you are looking at using an AI Generator for producing high quality images for your projects or presentations etc, then you should try Leonardo.ai (https://app.leonardo.ai/) this free service allows you to create stunning images based on input text strings or you can search images created by other users.

AI Generation Tool

Using the Image Generation option you have many available options in styling your images such as 3D Animation, Absolute Reality (great at all sorts of photorealism) and RPG (create character portraits with the ability for great photorealism) to name a few.

Once you have chosen your Model type can create an image based on text string then customised output with many amazing options to really enhance your image.

Once the image is generated, you can view it in the image generation feed. By hovering, you are presented with options to download, unzoom, remove background, upscale, use for image to image, edit in canvas and delete the image.

Prompt Generation Feature

While in the AI Image Generation Tool, click on the “Prompt Generation” heading, then select the number of prompt you want to generate.

Enter a basic concept for a prompt you want to ideate on and then click ‘Ideate’, once the prompts are generated, you can generate directly from here by clicking on ‘Generate’ to the right of the prompt.

Below is image generation using DreamShaper v7 Model from the Prompt Generation (above)

The same prompt but using the 3D Animation Style Model

Search Recent Creations

You can also search previous creations completed by other users to download and use in your presentations.

Overall this looks like an amazing resource for creating all types of fun and interesting imagery, with the flexibility to edit and amend output. The free service comes with 150 Tokens (which reset every 24hrs) with each of the above image outputs using 20 tokens to complete. Note: Outputting images at varied sizes and resolutions require additional tokens to complete.

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Video Editing in Windows now with Clipchamp

Amarah Bucknall — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 02:25:03 +0000

Make amazing videos with Microsoft’s new easy drag-and-drop free online video editor Clipchamp direct within your browser.

Microsoft recently announced its acquisition of Clipchamp, a company offering web-based video creation and editing software that allows anyone to put together video presentations, promos or videos, that will now replace video editing in Windows Photos app.

How Clipchamp works

Clipchamp’s online video editor equips you with essential editing tools. You can cut, trim, crop, rotate, split, loop, zoom in and out, speed up or slow down, add or remove audio and even add filters and transitions to videos.

Record your camera and screen:

Easily make screen recordings and edit them into tutorial videos, virtual meetings, presentations, and even reaction videos.

Captivating stock video and audio:

Search our library of curated themed stock collections to select the perfect song, sound effect, image, or video to complete your creations. There are millions of royalty-free and paid stock options to choose from.

Beginner-friendly templates, made by designers:

Create professional videos with no experience in minutes using free video templates. Customize your template with videos, text, branding, and background music. From YouTube gaming to sales, choose from thousands of video templates for any industry.

Special tools for creators:

Green screen video editor: Amaze your viewers with the background replace feature. Use chroma key effects to quickly replace parts of a video and add overlays.
Meme maker: Create and share looped videos and entertaining GIFs.
Try text-to-speech: Create lifelike voiceovers for your videos using our 170 AI voices. Choose from a selection of feminine, masculine and neutral tones in different accents in 70 languages.

Create a video your way

Record a video: Securely record your webcam and screen, edit mistakes and create automatic subtitles.

Upload a video: Import videos, photos and other media in a variety of formats from your computer, mobile or OneDrive.

Choose stock or video templates: Select designer video templates or start fresh with royalty-free videos and music.

Enhance and elevate your video

Free AI voiceovers and subtitles: Create a video voiceover in 400+ voices or generate automatic subtitles in 140 languages.

Effects and overlays: Achieve studio-like effects with filters, transitions, overlays, animated text, music and stickers.

Video brand kit: Create branded videos with your logo, special font and brand’s colour palette.

Auto subtitle generator

Create engaging and accessible videos with subtitles in any language.

Enable global viewers enjoy your videos in their chosen language

Tip: Download your video transcript in Clipchamp, then reuse it as a blog or social media content.

Make training videos easily accessible to all viewers, especially for people with a disability

Polish meeting recordings and make them easy to skim, search and review

Reinforce video lessons to support every student’s learning style.

Tip: Increase your video accessibility by overlaying sign language interpretation and adding ASL stickers.

Visit https://clipchamp.com/en/subtitle-generator/

Templates

Create professional looking videos in minutes with Clipchamp’s templates. Explore our range of YouTube intro templates, YouTube channel subscribe panels & social media handle templates. Ready to use – no experience needed.

Visit https://clipchamp.com/en/blog/create-videos-templates/

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Best Ways to Prevent Internet Hacking

Amarah Bucknall — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 01:11:16 +0000

As the world we live in becomes increasingly reliant on technology, the risk of internet hacking also increases.

Internet hacking is someone gaining access to your internet credentials. This leads to them being able to log in to your accounts and devices and be able to also access your personal information stored in those places.

This can be dangerous as your information can be stolen/leaked, hackers can log into your banking apps leading to theft as well as holding your accounts/devices for ransom, hackers can gain access to your private information and sell it to big companies for advertising purposes or hackers just simply want to cause a disturbance.

If you do not want this happening to you, here are the best ways to stay cyber secure

Use strong passwords.

If you are setting a password for an online account or device, try and make one that is unique and does not include any public details of yourself including your name or birthday. A good way to make a unique password is to chose a word and break it up with different numbers and symbols to replace some of the letters, eg: instead of ‘hello’, use ‘h3ll0!’. Always remember to NEVER store the password to your devices and accounts on the device, if you must, write it down on paper and store it somewhere safe only you have access to.

Activate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).

2FA allows you to add an extra layer of security with your password. You will get a unique one time password, a link or a secret code sent to your mobile or email address upon every log in to your accounts or for online banking, any time you go to make a transaction. There are also free third-party apps like Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator that aid in enabling 2FA on mobile devices including all apps installed on the device.

Recognise Spam Emails.

Spam emails have common flaws you need to look out for to protect you from a cyber attack.

Check the sender’s email address. If the email is very long and unusual, look out! If someone is claiming to be an employee from a big corporation, the email will always have the company name as their domain (‘@apple.com’, ‘@amazon.com’). It would never have a generic domain like ‘@gmail.com’ or ‘@hotmail.com’.
Check for punctuation or grammar mistakes. If the email is filled with poor grammar and vocabulary, do not ignore it. Established companies have strong standards regarding their online communication. This makes it uncommon for an email or post to have grammatical errors. So if you see these errors, be aware.
Is the email too good to be true? If the email is stating you have won a brand new iPhone with no information on how or why, it is most likely a scam. Scam emails commonly say you have won something to entice you to click on any attachments leading to a cyber breach.

Use a VPN.

Using a VPN is another tool you can install to help keep you safe. A VPN will do a number of things including:

Secure encryption – hides your online activities even on public networks.
Disguising Location – hides your location from being accessed.
Prevent Data Theft – stops your personal data being taken and sold.
Accessing Blocked content – a VPN allows you to change your location to anywhere in the world to view content blocked in your country.

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Minecraft Education new homegrown lesson – Eco Detectives

Amarah Bucknall — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 04:39:58 +0000

Microsoft and Minecraft have been working with Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Zoos South Australia, Zoos Victoria, Perth Zoo and Auckland Zoo on a Minecraft Education project that aims to bring positive behaviour change from the gaming world into the real world.

This is a ‘built-from-the-ground-up’ experience to promote sustainability and conservation and is aligned to associated teaching standards.

It contains resources, student activities and a unique Minecraft world for educators and students to utilise. Plus, it has many unique Australian/NZ animals designed specifically for this lesson.

After this activity, students will:

Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that inspire real-world action. Complementary teaching resources further support educators in guiding students to apply their in-game experiences to meaningful conservation efforts in their own communities.

More information and downloads are available on link below;

Eco Detectives | Minecraft Education

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Have you tried Microsoft Bookings yet?

Amarah Bucknall — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 04:23:41 +0000

Save time when scheduling with Microsoft Bookings. Customize appointment details, booking requirements, and specify service providers to streamline the booking experience for you and your customers. Bookings is integrated with your Microsoft 365 calendar to help staff quickly find available times and avoid double-booking. With Bookings, you’ll spend less time scheduling and more time meeting.

Make your Microsoft Bookings meetings virtual with integration with Microsoft Teams. Every appointment booked as an online meeting creates a meeting link that everyone can join virtually from anywhere. Bookings is also available as an app within Teams to help you create calendars, assign staff, schedule new appointments, and meet without ever leaving Teams.

Microsoft Bookings has flexibility and customization options to fit a variety of scheduling needs across departments, individuals, and types of appointments. Create and manage multiple Bookings calendars, each with their own unique setup. Different calendars can have different page structures, information, staff, and types of appointments and communication.

Microsoft Bookings offers more options for your staff/colleagues when they visit your booking page, book an appointment, or get a confirmation email and calendar invitation. People who book an appointment online can easily reschedule or cancel it themselves to keep everyone in sync. If you prefer to book appointments for your customers, enter the appointment details in Bookings so they receive confirmations and reminders. With Bookings, it’s also easy to track all changes made to appointments.

Watch video > https://youtu.be/G2HOsM767Sw

To enable open your Teams App then add Bookings via the Apps option in left hand side menu (search Bookings then add/open)

Follow the step by step prompts (see below)

Click Create and setup your new shared bookings page

2. Invite Staff who will have options to book appointments with you.

3. Setup your booking time service schedules of availability

4. Choose who can make bookings with you

5. Click Create and you’re good to start accepting online bookings.

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Introducing new Department AI – NSW EduChat

Amarah Bucknall — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 05:19:07 +0000

The launch of the NSW Department of Education new Artificial Intelligence (AI) engine NSWEduChat is now live and available for testing for all staff and can be accessed via https://chat.education.nsw.gov.au/ft/#/chat

NSWEduChat is a secure, department-owned generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool ensuring security, privacy and equity while offering tailored content for the NSW Education environment.

The tool aims to provide additional support to staff in developing and delivering teaching experiences, easing workload demands, and empowering users to advance their AI skills in a safe environment.

NSWEduChat can simulate many tasks that a human might perform but may not always be accurate. School leaders, teachers and trained, experienced employees in non-teaching positions should apply professional judgment when using NSWEduChat.

NSWEduChat is currently the safest and most cost-effective generative AI tool available for our schools and staff. NSWEduChat is based in our own cloud environment in Sydney, Australia, data is secure, caters to the NSW educational context and aligns to the NSW AI Assessment Framework.

Upon launching application you are greeted with a few tips to enhance user experience, these include:

1. Converse naturally: Unlike traditional search engines where you might type in keywords, NSWEduChat thrives on full sentences and clear questions. Think of it as having a conversation with a knowledgeable friend. The clearer and more specific your questions, the better the AI can assist you.

2. Avoid ambiguity: If your question is too broad or vague, the AI might provide a general answer. If you’re looking for something specific, be sure to specify it in your query.

3. Explore and experiment: Feel free to ask follow-up questions, dive deep into topics, or even test the AI’s creative capabilities. Whether you’re looking for information, advice, or just a fun interaction, NSWEduChat is here to help.

4. Feedback is gold: If you ever feel the response isn’t quite right, or if you’re curious about how the AI arrived at a particular answer, don’t hesitate to ask or provide feedback. It’s a learning experience for both users and developers.

If you don’t know where to start, you can always try picking a suggestion.

Guidelines regarding use of AI can be read via link below;

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/education-for-a-changing-world/guidelines-regarding-use-of-generative-ai

Introduction to NSWEduChat and user experience videos available below;

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/education-for-a-changing-world/nsweduchat

Sample usage

I used the following prompt to ‘write a stage 2 lesson plan on dinosaurs with resources’ and within a few seconds was presented with Learning Outcomes, Resources, Activities and Assessments (see link below for full transcript). To further enhance your AI Lesson Plan you can modify chat with tools to Expand, Summarise, Rephrase or even Make Simpler, along with tools to translate to multiple languages.

Write a stage 2 lesson plan on dinosaurs with resources.docx

Give it a go today!

https://chat.education.nsw.gov.au/ft/#/chat

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Free Creative Tools for Education

Amarah Bucknall — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 05:10:45 +0000

Looking for a set of creative software tools that can greatly enhance the educational experience, whilst offering students the means to express and develop their ideas? Canva have produced a list of ‘open source’ creative tools that don’t require a paid subscription.

Unlicensed, assessed and safe alternatives such as Krita, Inkscape and Scribus cater to digital painting, vector graphics and desktop publishing needs, respectively.

DaVinci Resolve and Darktable provide powerful video editing and photo processing capabilities, while Blender offers a robust platform for 3D modeling and animation.

For UI/UX design, Lunacy is a strong contender, and Quixel Mixer excels in texturing. VSCodium, an open-source code editor, supports coding projects and web design.

These tools are ideal for schools seeking cost-effective, high-quality software options.

View the full list via https://www.canva.com/design/DAGNPP8uF9I/zNWoRylKfke_r2x2MKZsGg/edit

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