Early Years Conference

~ EARLY BIRD REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS CONCURRENT CONFERENCE~

REGISTER NOW or contact our conference team

The Early Years Conference is now in its second year. It is a full day program separate to the main conference which includes domain experts in Early Childhood development. VITTA surveyed teachers at last year's conference and in early in 2009 to identify the areas of most interest to ensure a relevant and an exciting program.

Download a PDF copy of the Early Years Program here

Date: Tuesday 24 November

Venue: Skyline Grandstand, Flemington Racecourse

Program

Why does ICT matter in Early Childhood development? Young children are surrounded by people in settings where ICT is prolific. Computers, handheld mobiles, digital cameras, videoconferencing, programmable toys, robotics and electronic musical instruments surround young children as they develop. These technologies offer new opportunities to strengthen many aspects of early childhood education practice by gaining a clear understanding of the purpose, practice, and social context of early childhood learning. All Early Childhood educators keen to learn about new and innovative practices in digital learning which are impacting positively on student learning need to participate in this exciting event.

9:00am Keynote Sandy Phillips, FUSE, DEECD

Find, Use, Share Educate

Manager, Knowledge Bank: Next Generation, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Sandra is well known nationally in education forums for her support of educators and young learners in using the web for education. Sandra is the Manager of Knowledge Bank, a dedicated online site for teachers and other educators to share, discuss and collate innovative ideas and examples of "next" practices, especially those from Victorian schools. Sandra has been responsible for the highly successful new education portal Connect and FUSE (Find Use Search Educate) Teacher Portal

11:00am Anne Mirtschin, Hawkesdale P-12

Connecting an Early Classroom to the 21st Century

Cybersafety and digital citizenship are essential skills in the digital age. The younger they are, the earlier the learning begins. This session will discuss these skills and also demonstrate some of the web2.0 tools and other online sites that can be used in an early classroom including blogging, wikis, voicethreads, webcasts, videoconferencing etc. How to connect to a learning network and other interested, experienced educationalists will also be discussed. Examples, possible applications and demonstrations will be outlined throughout

11:40 am Jenny Seljak, Corio South PS

Prepknowlogy

Corio South Primary School incorporates up to date use of technology in classrooms from Prep to Year 6. In 2008 Developmental Curriculum was implemented into the four prep grades. Developmental Curriculum allows students to conduct personal learning through active and meaningful investigations which include, exploring interactive programs, the internet and a variety of educational software applications.
Preps are engaged at our school using interactive whiteboards, computers and technology devices such as cameras, videos, iPods and audio applications. Presentation of their learning journey is highlighted through a variety of media and software options.

12:20 pm Felicity Donnelly, Dept Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy

eSecurity modules for Year 3

The Budd:e E-security Education Package is designed to raise the e-security awareness of Australian primary and secondary school students and help them stay smart online. Budd:e Primary introduces e-security basics to stay smart online, including privacy, password creation, protecting personal details, virus scanning, secure websites, copyright and scams.

2:00pm Rachel Kennedy, The Learning Federation

Explore The Learning Federation's new interactive digital materials designed for Early Years students

In this session you will have the opportunity to explore TLF's new Early Years literacy and numeracy digital materials designed specifically for use on interactive whiteboards. Hear about the principles that shaped their design and discuss ways in which they could be used to support teaching and learning.

3:20 pm Deborah Cohen Australian Children’s Television Fund

Ad Astra

Ad Astra is an online extension program for primary school students aged 4-12 years of age. This presentation will look at how these online programs support the personalising of learning for students who are highly able / gifted in mainstream mixed ability classes. Ad Astra operates in two online classes; Ad Astra Junior for students from K-3 and Ad Astra Senior for students from Grades 4-6. Ad Astra presently has students from 68 schools with a maximum number of 300 students involved at any one time. Content within Ad Astra is designed to develop children’s thinking and problem solving skills. Ad Astra uses online tools to build a community of learners, allowing like minded students from diverse locations to interact and build friendships through email, discussion boards and collaborative tasks. Students are also able to interact with experts such as scientists and authors in a secure online environment. Other programs include philosophy for children, middle school maths and robotics to game making, as well as early childhood programs such as our art program, ArtyFacts Junior, and So Far So Good which uses the ACTF program Worst Best friends to develop social skills.

4.00 pm CLOSE