As I was unable to hook up to the internet today at the conference I could not blog my sessions as I went. But with great thanks to @LucyBarrow who has told me which network to log on to hopefully I will be able to improve on this tomorrow!

Excellent presentations today in a rabbit warren like venue and some unusual rooms! (Actual hotel rooms with the furniture cleaned out!) The first presentation was Travis Smith the AP from Frankston High School demonstrating the Tablet Laptop. I have seen these before but never actually played with one, which was fun. I could immediately see the advantages for senior students in particular especially if you were going to choose one of these over an IWB. Travis recommended buying a Tablet laptop with a wireless projector. Some of the software that we played with was free Microsoft software that can be used on non tablet PC’s as well as tablet PC’s but was particularly suited to the Tablet variety. They were the Microsoft Education Pack and the Microsoft Experience Pack. Must also check out www.schoolkit.com a website with heaps of technology rich lessons.

The next session that I went to was on Cybersafety presented by Greg???. He spoke about the Cybersaftey Outreach Program run by ACMA. They have created a PD module registed by VIT on Cybersafety in Schools. You can get accreditation to certify your school as a cybersafe school. He then presented some interesting statistics about teenagers being the major decision makers when choosing ICT equipment and Internet plans for households. That Gamer rooms are becoming more popular in new houses that home cinemas in new houses, homework is the number one reason that students use computers, primary students have on averagre 2-3 emails and secondary students have 3-4 emails on average. He then presented on emerging Issues that schools are having with students playing online games such as World of Warcraft such as

Conflicts with Parents
Food Habits
Problems with personal hygiene
Neglected school work
Late Nights
Addictions

Then Greg presented on Identity Theft and ways to avoid it, which was very intertesting sharing on such topics as Limewire, chain emails, Premier SMS services etc.

The last presentation I attended was Blended Learning by Westley Field from MLC Sydney. This was an I interesting presentation on how MLC defines and uses blended learning through their own in house learning management system. MLC have no blocks on their Internet other than for porn which I guess is OK if you have a large download limit and robust Internet connection at your school!

Overall it was a good day and I look forward to tomorrow and my sessions!