SMOOTHIES 2023 and 2024

Welcome to new and returning educators at NT Schools for this year and beyond. This website contains links to previous SMOOTHIES sessions and I would love it if you join me live on Friday afternoon at 3 pm Australian Central Standard Time for a live SMOOTHIES session. What are SMOOTHIES? If you are not an ICT and would like an invite, join CLoverTeams. Please read my section on AI - Frameworks, policy considerations and be informed and prepared for your own environment. Non NT Schools Educators are welcome to join live or look at past sessions. Click here to subscribe. Something blocked? It might be me... Email me if the topic is something you want more information on. Note on the Video Recordings

Short Multimodal Online Opportunities To Help Interested Educators Succeed

Table of Contents

NT Schools EdTech Resource Links and More

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Previous Episodes 2024

Episode 24K3 (22 November)

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Episode 24K2 (15 November)

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Episode 24K1 (8 November)

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Episode 24J4 (25 October)

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Episode 24J3 (18 October)

Adobe MAX has come and gone. It was incredible with lots of new features and enhancements.

  • Update to Computer Catalogue – September 2024

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Episode 24J2 (11 October)

  • Vimeo custom players
  • Vimeo AI (You Can Ask That!)
  • Page publishing in Express?
  • Embed an Express Design in Webpages
  • Microsoft Lens
  • Did the Earth move for you?

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Episode 24J1 (4 October)

  • Creativity, AI and Jobs of the Future
  • SNAGit Customised Stamps (logos)
  • Neural filters in Photoshop and generative fill
  • Adobe Conference Australia
  • Adobe MAX Conference
  • GoPro 13 Camera Launched

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Episode 24i4 (27 September)

  • Hot Mikes and Ending Meetings
  • Audio tips – Recording
  • Designer effects for your teams background (Teams Premium)
  • Can you DIG it? More free resources to help Info Literacy
  • More one-page Microsoft Explainers (Search Coach & Progress)
  • FLL (First Lego League) Competition
  • Don’t forget Adobe Conference 30 Sept + 1 Oct

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Episode 24i3 (20 September)

  • Workback Schedules – What are they?
  • Another one-page Microsoft Explainer (Math Progress)
  • More CoPilot Innovation is here
  • SUNO – Music with AI
  • Integrating videos from presentation mode into a Vimeo video

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Episode 24i2 (13 September)

  • Draw Mode in Express
  • Another one-page Microsoft Explainer (Editor in Edge)
  • The Learning icon in MS Edge
  • Podcasting between locations
  • Using Presentation and remix Mode in Express
  • Suggest a SMOOTHIES Topic using this form (using MS Loop)

Podcasting between locations

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Episode 24i1 (6 September)

  • 16 Ways to use Adobe Express in the Classroom
  • The School Interface to Adobe Express
  • Mail-merge style certificate creation with Express
  • New Features and enhancements in Express
  • Drawing
  • Presentation
  • Links
  • Animate with Audio – Animate Characters
  • Sound Effects
  • Microsoft Quick Guide app of the week

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Episode 24H4 (30 August 2024)

I've been wanting to provide a simple way to include a simple summary of smoothies that is shorter than the duration of the episode. Additionally I wanted to provide access to the videos recorded for each of the episodes to a wider audience. Because we have access to video I also wanted to provide access to the AI facilities which would allow viewers to query the videos searching for content and answers that they want. Because smoothies don't discuss sensitive topics I'm comfortable that in most cases I will be able to publish the videos as is, but of course I have the option to edit or redact as required.

This video below demonstrates a challenge I have when using the PowerPoint record facility to capture a recording of a SMOOTHIES episode that contains embedded videos like Vimeo or YouTube videos. Unfortunately even though the video embedded in the PowerPoint presentation place back during a presentation, when you go to export the presentation as an MP4 video, although the sound of the embedded videos exported, the video image does not play leaving you with a still image of just the first frame of the video. 

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Episode 24H3 (23 August 2024)

  • Workshop – create a safety symbol in Adobe Express
  • Using and adjusting symbols
  • Matching fonts
  • Creating multiple sizes
  • Adding animation
  • Locking Elements
  • New Look SMOOTHIES Logo (Baby Count)
  • New NTG AI Policy – What does it mean for a teacher?

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Episode 24H2 (16 August 2024)

  • Speaker Progress Available in Teams
  • Creating an Absence Form in MS Forms
  • Adobe Summit in September
  • San Jose Adobe summit
  • Edutech
  • Creating a MOGRT (Youtube Subscribe Intro) with Express

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Episode 24H1 (9 August 2024)

  • Khanmigo is available in Australia
  • What is Khanmigo?
  • What is Khan Academy?
  • A little Adobe Express tip (locking elements to reshare)
  • Print an Adobe Express webpage to PDF
  • Edusync (Microsoft Learning Accelerators and more)
  • Adobe Summit in September (Melbourne/Sydney/Online) (free)
  • Recap of my San Jose Adobe summit (if time)
  • Edutech (next week)

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Episode 24G3 (2 August 2024)

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Episode 24G1 (12 July 2024)

  • MS Teams Features
  • Password protect your Express Webpages
  • Create a rubric with AI and share via Excel
  • Creating Classwork AI Modules
  • Presentation Mode in Express – Workshop
  • JAMF for Jelly Babies – Learn how to manage iPads
  • Security Challenge – PeCan Capture the Flag

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Episode 24F4 (June 28 2024)

Panda Dad was created in Firefly and then edited in Photoshop to transform into a Character Animator character. I will show how I created this character and share this puppet in this week's SMOOTHIES episode 24F4

This is more of a guide than a deep dive – reference links provided

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Episode 24F3 (June 21 2024)

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Episode 24F2 (June 14 2024)

  • This is an extension of last week's smoothies episode.
  • A lesson example incorporating a digital literacy value chain (primary level)
  • Creating projects and libraries to share Adobe Express assignments out and receive work back.

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Episode 24F1 (June 7 2024)

  • LLLLL – Login License Leads Learning Lessons
  • Got iPads? Got Management Challenges?
  • Couple of new Adobe Express Features
  • MS Word in the classroom with little ones

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Episode 24E5 (May 31 2024)

  • Create prompts for lesson plans, rubrics in CoPilot (Also check out episode 24B3 which also covers this topic).
  • More multicam – with just one camera

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Episode 24E4 (May 24 2024)

  • ChatGPT 4o plus Khan Academy
  • Will we need teachers?
  • Some multicam editing in Premiere

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Episode 24E3 (May 17 2024)

  • Polished Performance Promotes Positive Praise
  • (Video workflows)
  • MS Teams - STMBU
  • Speaker Coach (PowerPoint Rehearsal)
  • More Microsoft
  • Search Coach
  • Classwork Module Reuse
  • AI Policy – suggestions for your school

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Episode 24E2 (May 10 2024)

  • May 2024 Update – Microsoft Edu
  • Edge Workspaces
  • Stream Interactivity (adding quizzes to video)
  • Happy Mother’s Day

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Episode 24E1 (May 3 2024)

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Episode 24D4

Episode 24D3 (April 26 2024)

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Episode 24D2

  • Create Training Screen Captures with SNAGit 2024
  • Integrate Video Training with Adobe Express

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Episode 24D1

  • Use Express and Premiere Rush to create a video
  • Mobile App – Adobe Express – in Beta

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Episode 24C3 (March 19 and 22)

  • Introduction to Premiere Rush
  • Creating video clips in Adobe Express

In the following looooong video, I cover both creating video clips in Adobe Express and integrating them into Premiere Rush before editing and sharing the video.

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Episode 24C2 (March 12 and 15)

  • Free apps for improving Reading, Typing and Arithmetic
  • Create a logo in Express
  • Share an Express Template with your kids to remix (my adaption of show off your state / territory project)
  • Quicknotes – AI education tools
  • OnePage Microsoft Learning Accelerators

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Episode 24C1 (March 5 and 8)

  • Deeper dive into the MS Bookings app
  • Firefly version 2 – a quick look
  • Podcast tool now generally available to schools
  • CoPilot AI in our school - now with CoPilot Labs

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Episode 24B5

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Episode 24B4

  • Aero - Creating geospatial data with Google Earth [24B4 - 20 and 23 Feb]
  • Basic Meeting Options in Teams [24B4]
  • So you're the School ICT? What next? Resources and Help [24B4]
  • Commonsense.org - website safety review and our own eLearn Digital Applications Catalog

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Episode 24B3

  • Structuring a Copilot prompt to create a Quiz in Forms - 24B3

Infographics Creation with Adobe Express and Gen AI - Starring Abbie and Eric - recorded 14/2/2024

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Episode 24B2

  • Working smart with OneDrive - Your massive file share location
  • Adobe Express - 2 minute creation sample
  • Leaving a team

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Episode 24B1

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Episode 24A4

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Episode 24A3

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Episode 24A2

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Episode 24A1

  • Our systems for ICTs and schools – what’s happening?
  • Embedding a MS Form into OneNote for Class Teams
  • New version of MS Teams - features (and a small temporary problem)
  • Comic Life and Comics in Education (maybe)
  • Resources for teaching talented and gifted kids
  • An update to my AI curated links

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Previous Episodes 2023

Episode 23K2

  • Moving a OneNote from any location into teams
  • LTANT Presentation – Multimedia Storytelling and Interactive Videos

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Episode 23K1

This SMOOTHIES episode was a discussion about ICT resources for NT Schools so I have included a link to the recording, but it will only be available for folks with an NTschools login. While there is nothing confidential, it is mainly relevant for our schools.

  • Schools ICT Resource Portal
  • Audience and Resource Communication Content Matrix

There was a great demonstration of a prototype proof of concept by Adam which is available to those with ntschools accounts check it out along with the PowerPoint for the session.

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Episode 23J3

  • Typing Tutors (Free and Paid)
  • Podcasting between two locations (podcast.adobe.com)
  • Creating a YouTube or Vimeo Podcast with Express

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Episode 23J2

  • New AI Course for Teachers
  • Adobe MAX – New Features in Products
  • Lens Blur in Lightroom (this picture)

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Episode 23J1 - Intro to Adobe Express

I realised that while many folks use Adobe Express, there are many more who have never ventured into the wonderful world of multimodal content creation using this tool. This episode covers the basics of creating a flyer using Adobe Express showing some of the image creation and manipulation features available in the web version of the product.

The videos below are not from the episode, but are intro videos to get you started.

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Episode 23i4a Special Edition - Newsletter Creation with Adobe Express

Adobe Express has a great webpage creator (you are using it right now!) - Many schools use this to create their school newsletters. Click on the button below for a resource designed around a fictitious newsletter created in Adobe Express. It contains many tips and tricks along with samples of real newsletters to view. It covers the main sections of a school newsletter with ideas on how to create reusable templates and how to safely involve your students in content collaboration on your school newsletters. The 10-minute flipped classroom style video below used the express page resource as a basis for guiding you through the newsletter creation process.

This is a great watch and memory of the 2023 Adobe ANZ Summit. Check out where we were in Melbourne and the great fun we had catching up with fellow educators in the great location at both the Melbourne Adobe offices and also the conference itself at Haileybury College City Campus.

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Episode 23i4 September 22 2023

SNAGit is a program I use all the time and as we have a few licences where I work and throughout education, I ran a short session this week on some of the features. There is no PowerPoint for this episode, Just a demo video highlighting some of the features. I also cover how you can easily (and should) add chapters to any videos you create via Teams / STREAM that you want to share with others. As with other products I talk about - I have no commercial affiliation with them. Snagit 2024 literally just dropped yesterday 4 Oct 2023 - and has a few new features worth checking out.

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Episode 23i3 September 15 2023

  • Adobe Express now has Firefly AI available for teachers and students
  • Photoshop has released Firefly AI capabilities into its latest general release
  • Join me for my workshop on Adobe Express (Newsletters, portfolios) on 26 and 27 September

Don't forget the video has chapters, clickable transcript and interactive hotspots so the links in the video are live...

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Episode 23i2 September 8 2023

  • Education Resources for School Leaders
  • Podcast.Adobe.Com (beta software)
  • Animate in Adobe Express – deeper dive

The link above is only viewable for folks with ntschools accounts as the primary subject matter is already addressed by Mike Russell's Adobe Podcast Tutorial and Dave Werner's video about animate from audio below and the screen captures in the PowerPoint.

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Episode 23i1 September 1 2023

  • Character Animator

Dave Werner from Adobe - known as OKSamurai is the go to guy for great training videos that are fun to watch - check out his channel. There are a variety of tools you can use from the professional level of Adobe Character Animator to the Starter version of Character Animator and now you have access to the animate from Audio feature in Adobe Express.

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Episode 23H4 August 25 2023

  • Microsoft OneDrive
  • Animate with Audio (Character animation in Adobe Express)

As I have a number of videos regarding OneDrive, rather than record a video that is a curation of existing content, I am including the three OneDrive videos here as well as two videos where I have created a puppet animation from audio in Adobe Express. The PowerPoint for the session is below.

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Episode 23H3 August 18 2023

  • Microsoft Lists App
  • Microsoft Search Coach and Search Progress

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Episode 23H2 August 11 2023

  • 23H2 Viva Insights, Reflect, Learning and More

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Episode 23H1 August 4 2023

  • Microsoft Bookings App
  • Reading Progress App

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Episode 23G3 July 21 2023

  • Editing and publishing videos from MS Teams
  • Capturing video meetings in PowerPoint (Cameo, Dictate, Record and Publish)
  • MS Streams and Vimeo
  • Interactive Videos
  • Other solutions

Once you have Vimeo contributor or Folder Contributor (School Vimeo Admin) access, you need to know how to access and upload videos. The video below covers this.

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Episode 23G2 July 14 2023

  • Microsoft Forms
  • Adobe Libraries

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Episode 23G1 July 7 2023

  • Updates App in MS Teams
  • Lightroom CC Storage

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Episode 23F5

  • Microsoft Planner
  • Adobe Express Beta

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Episode 23F4

  • Microsoft To Do App
  • Adobe Fonts
  • Random Bits (Search Progress, Vimeo AI, Outlook Meeting Recap)

This was an interesting episode in that I was running a competition to get folks to guess where a bicycle I had removed using the generative AI feature was. The plan was in MS Teams to use Whiteboard to get participants to draw on the map where they thought the bicycle was.

Can you work out where the bicycle was in real life? Original photo will be posted next week.

We have an issue with whiteboard where collaboration in Teams could not be activated. So we abandoned that fun exercise. In hindsight I should have used OneNote, pinning the photo to the background so we could draw over the top of the image.

In real life, the very next day, my own bicycle was stolen from my front yard where the thief came in through my front gate. The bike has not been recovered. I did use Adobe Express to create a poster for the stolen bike which I include here.

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Episode 23F3

  • Project Manager Office Manager Teams Special (10 Weeks)
  • T2 W9 Overview of the Apps we will cover
  • T2 W9 Approvals App + Reading Coach (Word)

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Episode 23F2

  • New Adobe Express Beta
  • Themes and Plugins in School WordPress Sites

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Episode 23F1

  • Vimeo Basics
  • Interactive Videos with Vimeo
  • Add Vimeo videos to PowerPoint and Adobe Express Page
  • One thing Camtasia does well (I forgot this last week)
  • Student Creativity Challenges (Adobe tools - aimed at 10 to 14 years olds)

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Episode 23E4

  • Where is the Jira Form (for Adobe, Vimeo and Cloud)
  • Phonetic Readers and Generative AI
  • Photoshop now has Generative AI (and beta blockers)

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Episode 23E3

  • Search Progress and Coach
  • ACE Level 1 and 2
  • Updates App in Teams

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Episode 23E2

  • It’s all about ME
  • Assignment Features
  • Search Coach

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Episode 23E1

  • April Teams Update
  • Assignment Features
  • Search Coach

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Episode 23D3

  • Camtasia vs PowerPoint

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Episode 23D2

  • MS Class Teams Update March 2023 (Education and General)
  • Lessons from Edex with assets
  • Firefly from Adobe – More AI but with guardrails for students

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MS Teams Training Resources

Practical Learning Pathways for educators

  • Microsoft Educator Course
  • Microsoft Advanced Educator Course
  • learning Environments (Course)
  • 21st Century Learning (Course)
  • Microsoft Educator Trainer Course
  • Microsoft Innovative Educator

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Free Adobe Training Resources

Practical Learning Pathways for Educators

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Video Recordings

Video recordings of the SMOOTHIES Episodes are captured in MS Teams Streams video. These videos are available to folks with an NT Schools Account. Some sessions are uploaded to Vimeo and processed in Vimeo. Those videos are generally available to the general public.

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School ICT Resources

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Logging jobs and getting support

For starters, you will need to be on our network and have an NT schools login to use any of the following links. Because I mainly focus on Microsoft Office, Teams, Adobe Products, Moodle and Vimeo I only include the links to those items.

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NTSchools Teams Links for similar content

You will need an NTSchools login to join any of these teams. If you are unsure of their purpose, you can contact me.

If you have your ntschools login information and are logged in, you can join a Microsoft Team called "CLoverTeams" which stands for Connecting learners over Teams by clicking here OR if you know how to use teams, go to https://teams.microsoft.com/v2 using Microsoft Edge, sign in and enter the following join code (only ntschools folks can use this code) pfvbrzt

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What are SMOOTHIES?

Short Multimodal Online Opportunities To Help Interested Educators Succeed or SMOOTHIES. These are live – but recorded 30 minute informal webinars with wide ranging topics on software you can use in the classroom and also some ideas for using them, focusing on the tools we have ie Microsoft and Adobe. They cover much more than those two vendors products and they are topical. As you can see from previous episodes - a wide variety of subjects are covered. I promote weekly SMOOTHIES Episodes to our ICT Mailing List and also members of CLoverTeams. If you are a teacher or interested NTSchools staff member, you can join CLoverTeams to receive invitations to SMOOTHIES. If you are external to our NTSchools environment, you can still subscribe as an external person here.

I have a video I created that explains a bit about my formal role and the role of SMOOTHIES in our education system. It was prepared for a committee who are the key education consultative group for all things EdTech.

This video was created using Adobe Express, downloaded as mp4 videos for each page and then joined together using the Vimeo video editor where I was able to generate the transcript and add AI value to the description, chapters and more.

Physical attendance at SMOOTHIES will earn you a 30 minute PD certificate towards your required PD hours and covers the following AITSL standards:

  • Standard 2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
  • Standard 2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - Use ICT in teaching to expand curriculum learning opportunities
  • Standard 3.4: Demonstrate knowledge of ICT resources to engage students
  • Standard 4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically
  • Standard 6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice

If you can't make it, sessions are recorded and have an accompanying PowerPoint - available through the links in the Table of Contents above.

I would love to see you at one of our SMOOTHIES sessions and you join them by booking here. Feel free to reach out directly via teams or the following:

SMOOTHIES Code System

The code system I use for SMOOTHIES Episodes names is simple. First two numbers are the year, the letter is the month with A = Jan increasing through the alphabet for 12 letters until we get to L = December. The last number which is 1-5 reflects the weeks in that month. So 24B1 would be an episode run in the first week of February 2024.

Mark.christie@ntschools.net

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Some considerations about AI in Education

I strongly recommend that you click on this link which contains some relevant statements about the use of AI in our NT schools environment.

I would almost go as far as to say that it is a disclaimer in regard to any mentions I may make of the use of AI in schools and also a practical word of caution regarding its use.

Having said that, I may also talk about cars and planes but I don't recommend people jump into a car or a plane and attempt to drive or fly without the appropriate training.

The use of AI may not kill you but as with all things it comes with a need to assess and apply those common sense principles you use to protect the privacy and data relating to your students and our staff. I maintain a journal on AI (for the moment) that you are welcome to view.

NT Government AI Framework

Here is my summary of the NT Government Artificial Intelligence Assurance Framework:

  1. Purpose: Assists NT Government agencies in designing, building, and using AI responsibly, ensuring risks are managed and benefits maximized.
  2. AI Ethics Principles: Includes principles like community benefit, safety, fairness, privacy, security, transparency, and accountability to guide AI use.
  3. AI Self-Assurance Assessment: A process for agencies to evaluate AI projects, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies.
  4. AI Advisory Board: Provides advice on high-risk AI projects, ensuring they meet ethical and assurance standards.
  5. Governance Model: Integrates AI governance with existing ICT, cybersecurity, and data governance frameworks.
  6. Roles and Responsibilities: Outlines the responsibilities of agencies and the Department of Corporate and Digital Development in AI implementation.
  7. Framework Modifications: The framework is a living document, regularly updated to reflect evolving AI standards and practices.

I strongly recommend NT Schools teachers and staff log into eLearn and view the great information available at the following link https://elearn.ntschools.net/supporting-staff/digital-applications/artificial-intelligence

I maintain a journal of various AI content as it relates to education in primarily the K-12 environment. The content is not my own but has been gathered from a variety of reputable sources.

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