Recently in Victoria Australia we have had mass media coverage over cyber bullying following the tragic suicide of a teenage girl in Geelong who was found to be a victim of cyber bullying; and worst of all she was the 4^th suicide from that school in the last 18 months alone.

Media outlets lapped it up including 60 minutes because it was yet another societal story of doom and gloom of epidemic proportions that did not involve the global financial crisis, Swine Flu, Iraq, Afghanistan.  What made this cheap journalistic booty so appealing to current affairs programs across the country was that it had a real fear factor for parents, suggesting their kids could be involved in this in their bedrooms late at night right now and we could quickly start shifting the blame to our schools for it as this is where cyber bullying manifested itself in reality.  After all this is where their teenage sons were all filmed as mourning friends, stressed and angry parents teachers and principals the next day.

It is a known fact that if you want to commit something to memory, continuous revision is the key. You read something every time you are at your desk and within days it becomes second nature.

To be able to revise quickly and often, it helps if the information is terse and to the point highlighting only the important aspects. Something like an application cheat sheet or a poster that you can print and pin to a board or keep on your desk.

Here are some application cheat sheets for commonly used software that will hopefully make you more productive.

Tom Barrett is a Year 5 classroom teacher, ICT Subject Leader and Assistant Headteacher in a large primary school in Nottinghamshire. He has been blogging about the implementation of technology in his classroom for over three years at ICT In My Classroom and has been using Twitter since 2007.

Twitter has quickly become the social network of choice for thousands of teachers and educators. While Facebook provides a wide variety of ways to create and interact with each other online, Twitter uses a simple 140 character message only.

It is this simplicity that attracts many teachers to the vibrant network, but Twitters simple nature belies the powerful impact it can have. Once connected with teachers and educators from around the world, it has the potential to bring a wide range of benefits to your teaching role.

This list from the ever prolific Tom Barrett lists 15 ways that he uses Twitter in and out of the classroom.

So, what are you doing? If you’re one of the 3 million people on Twitter, you are likely inclined to tell whoever cares right now, in 140 characters or fewer (or, about the length of this paragraph).

Twitter, on the small chance that you don’t know, is the free micro-blogging service that enables users to post short messages, or Tweets, that are delivered to friends, enemies, family, colleagues -- anyone who has subscribed. These are your followers. You may have one, several, or, if you’re Ashton Kutcher, 2 million.

With its enormous popularity, Twitter has invited dopey hyperbole (Time magazine went all in with a recent cover story) and snide cracks (“Who cares that I just ate a tasty corned beef sandwich?”)

But before you write off Twitter as just the latest social media “fad,” take a look at how some clever educators are using it to enrich their classrooms and even forge informal professional networks. (As with any new technology, especially social networks, educators should first find out if their school or district has a policy or guidelines on Twitter before proceeding.)

An interesting hype free look at how some teachers are using Twitter.

So, what are you doing? If you’re one of the 3 million people on Twitter, you are likely inclined to tell whoever cares right now, in 140 characters or fewer (or, about the length of this paragraph).

Twitter, on the small chance that you don’t know, is the free micro-blogging service that enables users to post short messages, or Tweets, that are delivered to friends, enemies, family, colleagues -- anyone who has subscribed. These are your followers. You may have one, several, or, if you’re Ashton Kutcher, 2 million.

With its enormous popularity, Twitter has invited dopey hyperbole (Time magazine went all in with a recent cover story) and snide cracks (“Who cares that I just ate a tasty corned beef sandwich?”)

But before you write off Twitter as just the latest social media “fad,” take a look at how some clever educators are using it to enrich their classrooms and even forge informal professional networks. (As with any new technology, especially social networks, educators should first find out if their school or district has a policy or guidelines on Twitter before proceeding.)

An interesting hype free look at how some teachers are using Twitter.

Cool beans, rents! Mothers and fathers are finally being given a chance to understand 'Teenglish'.

They can study a new glossary of baffling vocabulary to prevent them looking like a 'fudge' in front of their offspring.

The guide, Pimp Your Vocab, aims to demystify the jargon used by teenagers and young people.

The essential guide to knowing what the others are saying ... :)

Microsoft and Yahoo! have Google in their sights. By Katie Cincotta.

HALF of us say we do it once a week. In fact, Aussies are at it more than ever, up 18 per cent on last year. But while most of us have been doing it with our first love — the one that promised us all the answers in 1997 — it seems that after 12 years of mixed results, we might be ready for something new.

If you haven't already guessed it, we're talking search — the fastest-growing online activity in the world. And despite our devotion to Google — with its overwhelming 65 per cent global market share — more than 60 per cent of us are open to switching search engines, Forrester Research revealed this year.

The reason is satisfaction. Not enough of it. All those wacky, disorganised, dead-end search results are eroding our loyalty to Google.

A recent Harris Interactive poll confirms our disillusion, revealing it takes people an average six search queries to arrive at their intended destination and even then 50 per cent of us remain disappointed by the experience.

Wikis are an exceptionally useful tool for getting students more involved in curriculum. They’re often appealing and fun for students to use, while at the same time ideal for encouraging participation, collaboration, and interaction. Read on to see how you can put wikis to work in your classroom.