Official Google Australia Blog: April 2014

Supporting teachers on the Digital Technologies Curriculum with CS4HS Grants

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

We’re pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the Computer Science for High Schools grants in Australia and New Zealand. This annual program promotes computer science education by helping to equip educators with the skills and resources they need to teach computer science and computational thinking concepts in fun and relevant ways. Globally, this program has already trained more than 12,000 teachers and reached over 600,000 students.

Closer to home, we are supporting 20 organisations across Australia and New Zealand who will provide this important training to school teachers.

2014 recipients

Australia

New Zealand

In Australia, this year’s recipients will be expanding their workshops to focus on the implementation of the new Digital Technologies Curriculum being rolled out to classrooms across the country and include primary school and pre-service teachers in their workshops.

In addition to the CS4HS workshops, we’ll continue to support the rollout of the new curriculum with a partnerships with Adelaide University to deliver free online professional teacher development in teaching computational thinking. If you’ve not started yet it’s not too late to join in. There are also some great classroom resources on our K-12 educators page.

We know that an early introduction to computational thinking and coding is a great foundation for students in any career they choose, whether it’s medicine, engineering or the movies. We hope that these practical, hands on workshops will inspire teachers across Australia as they bring new material to their classrooms.

Posted by Sally-Ann Williams, Engineering Community & Outreach Manager, Google Australia & New Zealand

Surfies, students, sweethearts, lend me your ears: Celebrating Shakespeare's 450th birthday

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

You're invited to a join us for a week-long celebration of Shakespeare's most beloved works and characters. We'll be partnering with Bell Shakespeare for six live and interactive events hosted from Bell Shakespeare's Google+ page. Here are the events you can get involved with:

23rd April: Shakespeare's Birthday Bash - A live 15 minute party with Shakespeare’s greatest characters, including Cleopatra, Hamlet, Richard III, and Shakespeare himself.

28th April: In Conversations with John Bell and Peter Evans - Two theatre greats talking about performance, Shakespeare and the founding of Australia’s Shakespeare company.

29th April: Hamlet Acting Workshop: 'To thine own self be true' - A video lesson exploring Bell Shakespeare’s approach to Shakespearean text, using Hamlet’s speech as an example.

30th April: International guest Lily Cole with John Bell - Lily Cole, actress and founder of Impossible.com, will speak with John Bell about theatre and The Globe.

1st May: Hangout in History: Elizabethan England - William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I chat about what it is like to live in the 16th Century.

2nd May: Take the stage: Star in Romeo and Juliet - Join a Hangout on Air to deliver a line from Romeo and Juliet’s balcony scene with other thespians from around the world.

You can find out more at Bell Shakespeare's website and RSVP to join in the fun at Bell Shakespeare's Google+ page. Whether you're an modern day Romeo or an aspiring Hamlet, we hope you'll join us and Bell Shakespeare as we revisit the bard's greatest moments. Posted by Leticia Lentini, Brand Marketing Manager, Google Australia. Who dreams of one day playing Cordelia on stage.

It's time for a real change

Friday, April 11, 2014

[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]
This week marks the end of an era for computing, as Windows XP meets its maker. I remember when XP was released in 2001—it seemed like a revolution that introduced computers to a whole new generation. But fast forward 13 years and we live in a very different world—one in which we expect the latest and greatest software, and the ability to access our stuff from anywhere. Even Microsoft admits: it’s time for a change. After all, in 2001, computers looked like this:

In addition to the nearly 30% of desktops still running XP, many businesses are in a tough spot. Despite “significant” security and privacy risks, legacy software or custom-built apps have held businesses back from migrating in time for today’s XP support deadline. Companies in this position now find themselves at a timely crossroads. It’s time for a real change, rather than more of the same. Chromebooks for Business offers you a secure and easy-to-use computing experience, along with a central web-based management console and lower total cost of ownership. If you’ve been considering Chromebooks for your company, until June 30, we’re sweetening the deal:

Buy Chromebooks for Business and get $100 off for each managed device you purchase for your company.

If your employees need to access desktop apps, we’ve partnered with Citrix and VMware to bring you an offer: get Chromebooks for Business with 25% off Citrix XenApp Platinum Edition, which includes AppDNA software for accelerating Windows XP migration.

Last year, Forrester urged businesses to consider Chromebooks. Here are some reasons why even organizations that rely on desktop applications should consider a switch now:

Run your favorite work apps — yes, even offline: With more adoption of business web apps, companies are making the switch from Windows XP to Chromebooks. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides work online or offline. Quickoffice is built into every Chromebook and Cisco is bringing WebEx to Chromebooks soon.

Access traditional desktops and software, too: Customers, like Woolworths, access Windows applications in a virtual environment through providers like Citrix, VMware and others.

Power your kiosks: Use Chrome OS’s Kiosk mode to power your customer kiosks, shared employee terminals, or sales dashboard — like Dillard’s, which relies on Managed Public Sessions to help employees access their corporate email and important internal systems.

Certified for schools: For education, Chromebooks are verified to meet Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessment requirements with software from AIR and Pearson Testnav8. According to NPD, Chromebooks made up 21% of U.S. commercial laptop sales in 2013.

For more details about how to upgrade your IT solution, please visit our website. Don’t let your business go the way of tamagotchis and parachute pants. It’s time for a real change — something we can all agree upon.
Posted by Amit Singh, President of Google Enterprise

Australia Blog

Supporting teachers on the Digital Technologies Curriculum with CS4HS Grants

Surfies, students, sweethearts, lend me your ears: Celebrating Shakespeare's 450th birthday

It's time for a real change

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