In today's briefing I look at Diplomas, Bullying, Conferences and Micro-blogging in the classroom.

Diplomas

If you're involved in teaching the new Diploma qualification in England, here are a few sites you need to bookmark.

First, the DCSF 14-19 website is a good starting point. It has links to a cornucopia of interesting-looking material. Some is for students, but there is a lot for teachers and providers too.

The Diploma Support website is also a good starting point. It has downloadable leaflets aimed at potential students;, if you can overcome the dreadful colour schemes they're not too bad. A bit short on hard facts, perhaps, but maybe enough to pique a young person's interest. You can order copies online, which shoulkd save a lot of folding.

Also included on the site is information for teachers and parents, and a short video. The video actually contains quite a bit of information, so try to rise above a script that sounds like it was written by a machine, and some rather stilted acting.

A related site which I am currently unable to evaluate for you is a Virtual learning Environment for Diploma teachers. In order to apply for access you will need to know (ideally) the name of your Consortium and its Gateway category.

Bullying

There's a new and free publication on the subject:

Bullying Involving Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities: Safe to learn - Embedding anti-bullying work in schools

It's a 64 page pdf, and worth looking at because it has a section on cyberbullying, and a few suggestions here and there about how to use the web in your school's anti-bullying arsenal (search for 'online').

Conferences

If you're interested in conferences, "Kattekrab" has written a useful round-up of some of the ones coming up, especially in Australia. One for Indiana and one for Singapore are also listed.

It's always worth visiting conference websites I think, for any presentations and other information available there.

Micro-blogging in the classroom

José Picardo has written an interesting review of a not-yet-launched application called Edmodo, and its application in the classroom. He has some interesting ideas, so it's well-worth reading. Read the comments too.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.