Some parents may now want their kids playing more video games. Well one game anyway. The federally funded National Acoustics Laboratory (NAL) has developed "Sound Storm", a game app that it says improves the listening ability of children with spatial processing disorder. ...
More »Recognise teachers’ areas of excellence vary: Rickards
Excellent teachers need to be recognised for their work and for their strengths in various areas, but not with performance pay, the dean of one of Australia’s top teacher schools has argued. Melbourne Graduate School of Education professor Field Rickards said good ...
More »Refugee advocates lobbying for student loan changes
One of the leaders behind a program mentoring high school students from refugee backgrounds is marking this year’s World Refugee Week by calling for those on temporary protection visas and asylum seekers to be eligible for federal government assistance to meet ...
More »Toughen up teaching degree entry standards: Grattan
In its long list of recommendations to the next federal government, the Grattan Institute is calling for tougher entry standards into teacher education. Grattan school education program director Peter Goss estimated there has been roughly one review every year, for 40 ...
More »The ‘difficult’ children need teachers the most
"They’re never going to do well on NAPLAN or any other goddamned level of academic excellence, but they still matter.” That’s Maggie Dent, a former high school English teacher – now an author and parenting specialist – calling on teachers, ...
More »Kids’ sleep guidelines spell out shut-eye
New guidelines show how much shut-eye children should be getting. The recommendations range from up to 16 hours daily for babies to at least eight hours for teens. They come from a panel of experts and give parents fresh ammunition for ...
More »Australia the unlucky country for 1 in 6 kids
In 2013, across Australia, 70,000 children faced the prospect of sleeping rough. One in six struggled with daily existence, living below the poverty line. These are just two conclusions from a new report, released to commemorate 25 years since Australia’s ratification ...
More »Five tips for getting girls into STEM for good
The gender imbalance in STEM fields is well documented. The need for more women in physics, engineering and computer science-related professions – for example – is being pushed by universities, industry and, in this election cycle at least, politicians. But while STEM ...
More »Abolish homework, punishments and rewards: Kohn
‘Let’s get rid of homework and grades.’ Any teacher who told a classroom this would probably become very popular with the kids. ‘Now let’s get rid of giving rewards if you do what I tell you.’ The kids may scratch ...
More »Can smartphone apps solve Georgie’s long list of problems?
Georgie, aged 16, has depression. She also has frequent panic attacks, she’s very stressed out, she just broke up with a high school sweetheart, some of her friends have depression, she doesn’t often sleep, and when she does, she snores loudly. Georgie ...
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