Educators embrace eBook boom

WHILE the Federal Government spends big trying to mitigate the damage that eBooks are expected to do to the publishing industry, educators seem to be embracing the new technology.

Bremer Institute of TAFE’s specialised E-Learning librarian Jean Moetara said staff and students felt eBooks could be used to improve education without causing any collateral damage.

In addition to creating the position of E-Learning librarian three years ago, the TAFE has worked hard to keep up with the times, encouraging its teachers and students to follow suit.

“The programs are still developing, but Bremer TAFE has been recognised nationally for its uptake of E-Learning,” Ms Moetara said.

“The advantage of it is that it provides equal accessibility to information for students, whether they live out in the bush or close to the TAFE.

“The material can be more easily searched and there is also the opportunity to embed other media, such as video or audio.”

The Rudd Government will set up the Book Industry Strategy Group to protect the country’s $1.5 billion industry from the threat of eBooks. It will have access to $50 million a year in funding and is due to report back to the Federal Government within one year.

Ms Moetara said she did not believe the book industry was under any threat, despite the advances of eBooks.

“People still have an emotional attachment to real books that you just can’t get with the electronic version,” she said.

“One of these days they will invent eBooks that are easier on the eye but, until then, curling up with a good book will remain a popular pastime.”

Source:The Queensland Times

Professionals could be Queensland teachers in six weeks

People with professional qualifications will be sent to teach in disadvantaged schools to plug a shortage of specialist teachers under the Teach for Australia program.

But unions have slammed the strategy – which aims to attract high-performing professionals and graduates from fields including law, economics, engineering, science, mathematics and English – as disrespectful to teachers and a Band-Aid solution.

Teach for Australia chief executive Melodie Potts said research shows similar models overseas produce more effective teachers.

Education Queensland assistant director-general Craig Allen confirmed the program was being considered and talks were being held with Teach for Australia.

The program involves six weeks of intensive training for six days a week at university, with teachers then placed in disadvantaged secondary schools where it is hoped they will inspire children. Their university study continues part-time for two years and includes a mentor and adviser before they graduate with a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching.

Mr Allen said the department was “exploring the potential of Teach for Australia” to attract and retain “high quality individuals in teaching”.

The teachers are given a reduced workload to help concentrate on their part-time study.

Queensland has a shortage of some specialist high school teachers and a massive over-supply of primary school teaching graduates. Current graduates have to complete four years of study in Queensland to register as a teacher.

“The department has commenced discussions with key stakeholders, including the Queensland Teachers Union,” Mr Allen said.

But the union has already voted not to accept the program unless issues such as enterprise bargaining are addressed first.

QTU president Steve Ryan said six weeks was not long enough to prepare a teacher for the classroom.

“That is just a total lack of respect for teachers,” he said. “That’s the Band-Aid solution and all kids in the education system deserve better.

“Our view is that all students should be able to be taught by qualified teachers, and teachers with education qualifications.”

Queensland Independent Education Union general secretary Terry Burke said the course undermined the professional standard the community demanded of teachers.

But Teach for Australia’s Ms Potts said the course attracted highly talented individuals, many of whom had leadership roles, and would not otherwise have considered teaching as a career.

The Opposition’s education spokesman, Bruce Flegg, said he supported the strategy.

“It’s one small step in the right direction of attracting high-performing people into teaching,” he said.

Victoria is the first state to take on the initiative, with Teach for Australia teachers starting in classrooms there last month.

Nearly 800 graduates vied for 45 places in the program.

In Victoria they will be paid at one band below their beginning teacher counterparts, before they achieve their degree.

It is unknown what the pay conditions would be in Queensland schools.

Source:The Courier Mail

Education related knife offences rise 35 per cent

On average one knife related incident occurs each week within Queensland educational facilities, according to Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson. Figures were released following Monday’s tragic death of St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe, schoolboy Elliott Fletcher who was allegedly stabbed on school grounds.

Mr Atkinson has revealed police responded to 46 knife offences in the last financial year, which averaged out to be one a week while schools and University’s were operational.
The figure of 46 was not merely someone possessing a knife, rather a person offending with
This number was an increase of 35 per cent on related incidents compared to the previous financial year (34 incidents reported to police).

However, Mr Atkinson said on Brisbane radio 4BC the number of knife offences were not unreasonable given the statistic incorporated incidents within primary and secondary schools, University and TAFE facilities. “I can live with that,’’ he said in relation to the statistics.
But Mr Atkinson did say he was concerned the number of offences had risen from the previous year.

Source: WhereLive

Stabbing prompts school security review

SECURITY will be reviewed in Catholic schools but parents will have to play a role if the current scourge of knives among youths is to be combated, stakeholders warn.

Calls for stronger powers to search student bags for weapons, and for parents to be vigilant about the problem, were made yesterday as St Patrick’s College continued to grapple with the shocking death of 12-year-old student Elliott Fletcher this week.

Catholic Education authorities confirmed they would be reviewing their security protocols in schools to ensure students were safe.

It follows an acknowledgement by Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson that officers were witnessing “an increased tendency” for young people to carry weapons and figures showing an increase in knife-related incidents attended by police at education facilities.

Brisbane Catholic Education executive director David Hutton said they would be talking to police, Education Queensland and parents about security in their schools, which did not include St Patrick’s College, a Catholic school run by Edmund Rice Education Australia.

“Let’s talk with the police and see if they have got any suggestions, but I think a key thing is we want to talk to our parents and see what they think is a proportionate response to the issues involved,” Mr Hutton said.

“Families also need to be checking what their children are . . . taking to school.”

He said he did not think parents wanted schools to “go down the track of metal detectors”, but there would be consultation on appropriate responses.

Federation of Parents and Friends Association of Catholic Schools in Queensland executive officer Paul Dickie said the issue of metal detectors should be considered on a school-by-school basis.

Queensland Council of Parents and Citizens Associations president Margaret Black said metal detectors would be circumvented by children who wanted to arm themselves and urged parents to talk to their children.

“It really has to start with the parent; the parent really needs to have a conversation with the child about what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable,” she said.

Queensland Association of State School Principals president Norm Hart said the State Government should consider greater principal powers to allow them to search students’ bags and lockers if pupils refused a request to do so.

Queensland Teachers Union president Steve Ryan said youths carrying knives was a societal issue spilling over into schools, with society also needing to deal with the problem.

Both Catholic and state authorities, including Education Minister Geoff Wilson, maintained yesterday that Queensland schools were safe.

Source: CourierMail

Tertiary enrolments spike

THE number of Australians in tertiary education has hit an equal record 2.4 million, with experts saying the rising demographic increases the political importance of tertiary education issues.

“If more people go to university and TAFE, then those issues ought to rise up people’s electoral priorities, so it might play out in that regard,”Australian National University’s Andrew Leigh said.

Professor Leigh made the comments on news that domestic higher education enrolments reached 771,932 in 2008, according to the latest government report on higher education.

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Our schools are safe, says Qld’s top cop

Queensland’s top cop says schools are essentially safe places, but broader society is seeing a rise in young people carrying knives.

Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the stabbing death of 12-year-old Elliot Fletcher at a Brisbane school on Monday was a terrible tragedy.

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School ‘has no sewerage’

AUTHORITIES fear almost 200 students are being exposed to health risks after a school in Brisbane’s west opened without a water and sewerage system.

Ipswich City Council yesterday issued a show cause notice to Staines Memorial College at Redbank Plains about plumbing deficiencies as well as the lack of building and planning approvals, making it necessary to store toilet waste on site, but the school says it’s taken all precautions necessary.

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School ranking report furore

AN explosive report ranking Australian schools based on national test results for $97 doesn’t include any Queensland primary schools in its top 100 but names 25 in the bottom.

Education stakeholders have slammed the report as “a disgrace, dangerous” and “a sad day for education in Australia”, arguing it places too much importance on the tests.

More than half of Queensland’s secondary schools are not included in the top 100 data because they do not teach Year 7. Primary school top and bottom 100 rankings are based on Year 3 and 5 test data only.

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Hundreds pay tribute to slain schoolboy Elliott Fletcher

STUNNED students, many clutching their parents’ hands, have returned to a Brisbane school to mourn the loss of stabbing victim Elliott Fletcher.

Some held back tears. Others couldn’t. Many brought flowers. More than 1000 people streamed into the school for the special mass to remember Elliott.

Mother Natalie Smoothy, whose son attends the Catholic college, verbalised what was written on every parent’s face as they gathered for a memorial service at the school on Tuesday.

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State school enrolments take hit

PUBLICITY around national test results is being blamed for a drop in state school enrollment growth this year, as the Catholic sector continues to climb.

Figures obtained by The Courier-Mail show enrollments increased by only 2700 across Queensland state schools this year, with about 482,000 students counted on day 8 last week, up from around 479,300 last year.

It followed a previous increase of 5000 students between 2008 and 2009.

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