Minnis Journals

ET News Digest

Your Weekly Education Newsletter

Paper, iPads and child literacy
Find yourself a pre-schooler and there will be a tablet nearby. It’s often a source of concern, after all shouldn’t they be reading books? Yes and no, digital literacy will be all the more important as the future unfolds and while print is good, exposure to both old and new information formats is important. Read more

Roaming Classroom for Rebel Girls to make coding more accessible
Technology startup, Code Like a Girl, has launched its Roaming Classroom for Rebel Girls – a mobile, pop-up classroom which aims to make coding more accessible. The pop-up classroom will provide coding workshops to girls from all socio-economic backgrounds, with the hope of increasing diversity in Australia’s future tech industry.
The pop-up takes workshops beyond the CBD, giving girls from the outer suburbs and regional areas access. Read more

Two years of preschool for smarter Australia
Providing two years of preschool for all children could boost our entire education system and later the economy. Mitchell Institute at Victoria University Director, Megan O’Connell says that giving all children access to two years of quality preschool programs underpins academic progress and ultimately boosts the country’s wealth.
“There is mounting evidence showing that two years of quality preschool helps children thrive in school and later in life,” Ms O’Connell said. Read more

Aboriginal students graduate in record numbers
South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy (SAASTA) runs an educational program that provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students with skills, learning and development opportunities.
A record number of students from the SAASTA have graduated with their Certificate III in Sport and Recreation at an event held at the TafeSA Regency Campus.
Read more

New font ‘Sans Forgetica’ helps students study
A new font makes students fill in the gaps helping with information retention. Designed at Melbourne’s RMIT University, Sans Forgetica could help people remember more of what they read as thousands of students begin to study for exams.
Researchers and academics from different disciplines came together to develop, design and test Sans Forgetica.
The font is the world’s first typeface specifically designed to help people retain more information and remember more of typed study notes. Read more

Bookish homes enhance literacy everywhere
The effect of having lots of books around adolescents is profound, even those who didn’t go on to higher education experienced better literacy levels because of their exposure to books.
A new study of 31 countries shows that being surrounded by books in the home during adolescence may have as big an impact on long-term literacy, numeracy, and digital skills as a university education.
Read more

Take geoscience education “beyond dinosaurs and volcanoes”
Australians are to be urged later this month to move their thinking beyond dinosaurs and volcanoes when it comes to appreciating just how much their modern day lives are being impacted by the geosciences.
As Director of the Sustainable Earth Institute, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth in the UK, Prof Iain Stewart will be a keynote speaker during a ‘Big Issues’ summit day at the inaugural four day convention of the Australia Geoscience Council (AGCC 2018), being held in Adelaide from October 15 during Earth Science Week 2018. Read More

Suicides in young people up 10%
The ABS has released its 2017 causes of death report and has revealed that suicide was the leading cause of death for young people aged between 5–17 years of age.
There were 98 deaths in this age group representing a 10.1% increase from 2016 and nearly 80% of youth suicides were aged between 15 and 17 (78.8%). Suicide also remained the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, accounting for 40% of all Indigenous youth deaths. Read more