Clash of Clans is an incredible game because it is a strategy based game. In Clash of Clans you build a clan and defend your Town Hall against others. I think that Clash of Clans is a great game because you have to work out a plan or you will go broke. The good thing about his game is that you will not be broke for long, as you can  purchase […]

Creativity doesn’t come naturally to everyone but it can be taught. According to Albert Einstein, ‘the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but creativity’. This year I have gone back to using a range of higher order thinking theories/models such as De Bono’s Six Hats, Thinkers Keys, Blooms Taxonomy and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. I have not only used them for programming lessons plans but I have taught them explicitly […]

Having just returned from a 10 day campervan holiday in New Zealand with my family and with no Internet usage, I thought I’d share the video below. Media overstimulation? I think there is something we can all learn from this video, including myself. Under the video I have embedded a unit of work which I wrote today. It provides resources for teaching students about their online life and how to […]

I have been progressing with my PHD studies and in between creating new technology based units of work for one of my other website: http://technologiesjvillis.weebly.com/ . Below I have embedded some teaching ideas which you may like to use: Towering high: Technology unit from Joanne Villis Designing Toy: Y2 Lesson Ideas from Joanne Villis Y5-6 Forces and Electricity Teaching Ideas J Villis from Joanne Villis   Data lesson ideas for Y3/4 […]

For my PHD I am focusing on the shared use of mobile technologies in primary education. What does this mean? Well, mobile technologies (ie, iPad, tablets, lap tops and smart phones)  are ideal on a 1:1 basis yet many primary schools can not afford this. Therefore I would like to find out if mobile technologies on a shared basis in primary education are working effectively based on teacher’s opinions. I would […]

I am meant to be researching for my PHD but at times I get a little distracted. Having noted this, distractions are not wasted  as I frequently find ideas for new units of work. Below are a few units of work for technology which are linked to the Australian Curriculum. Caine’s arcade technology lesson ideas for teachers from Joanne Villis Forces and materials teaching ideas JVillis from Joanne Villis Forces […]

Today I also had the opportunity to play with some ‘hands on’ coding resources. My favourite was Makey Makey. I have blogged this before so I shall keep it brief. MaKey MaKey is an invention kit for the 21st century. It allows you to turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. So how does it work? Well, you need to buy the kit (approximately AU$60). The […]