Primary classroom edtech, tested in practice.
RUConnected follows Jenny Ashby and Lois Smethurst as they talk through technology in primary classrooms from the level of daily practice. Minecraft clubs, Scratch activities, iPad trials, QR codes, VoiceThread debates, iTunes U resources, and conference takeaways sit beside weather chat and end-of-term reality.
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RUConnected is a practical education technology show shaped by the working lives of Jenny Ashby and Lois Smethurst. It stays close to primary classrooms. The conversation moves through Minecraft clubs, Scratch programming, iPad trials, iMovie tutorials, student blogging, VoiceThread debates, QR codes, robots, iTunes U resources, and conference ideas that might be taken back to school. The show’s value is not in announcing tools as trends. It is in hearing how those tools meet children, parents, timetables, school spaces, shared logins, open days, and teacher planning. One stretch of the show can move from Tournament of the Minds to environmental documentaries, David Attenborough-style classroom narration, and digital leverage. Another can pause over book clubs for staff, reading intervention planning, solar robot kits, and the idea that pictures can be data. The rhythm is conversational and unhurried, with weather reports, school-calendar pressure, and holiday catchups folded into the professional reflection. That ordinary texture matters. RUConnected makes digital learning sound like something teachers build in fragments, test with students, adjust, and bring back to colleagues. Minecraft is treated as a classroom space with teacher controls, student leadership, and behavior expectations. Scratch becomes a way for young children to animate stories or teach parents basic coding moves. Blogging is not only publishing; it becomes a cafe where students help parents comment. The iPad trial material brings in Jenny and Adam Bryce as people involved in Victorian school use, with questions about where the trial is going and what results are visible so far. Conference talk is similarly grounded. Slide to Learn, Mobile 2015, Miami Device, and related gatherings appear through takeaways, resources, presentations, registrations, and ideas that might turn into lessons. The show suits listeners who prefer practice over polish. Its distinguishing feature is the amount of classroom grain it preserves: the funny delays, the rule-setting, the half-finished plans, and the specific ways children make technology meaningful.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants grounded school technology talk from educators comparing what actually happens with children, parents, and teachers. It is especially useful for someone looking for classroom-scale ideas rather than broad platform hype.
What sets it apart: RUConnected stands apart by keeping digital learning tied to the daily mechanics of primary teaching. Tools are discussed through projects, student behavior, classroom routines, professional learning, and the practical follow-through after conferences.
Technology in Education, ideas, links and more. Jenny Ashby and Lois Smethurst are Leading Teachers for ICT in Australian Primary Schools and teach from Prep to Grade 6 children. Jenny and Lois started the RUConnected podcast after attending NECC 09. They work in different parts of Victoria, Australia and have lots to share about integrating ICT into the curriculum.http://ruconnected.global2.vic.edu.au
Jenny and Lois discuss a Grade 6 Minecraft club leader; you may reconsider who teaches whom.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A conversational education episode turns conference ideas into classroom experiments and reflective practice.
RUConnected #80 follows education as it moves between competition, environmental learning, storytelling, and digital resources. Jenny and Lois Smithers open with Tournament of the Minds in Gippsland, where they took three teams and one reached the state finals, before moving…
A relaxed teacher catch-up turns book clubs, learning spaces, and bottle rockets into usable classroom prompts.
RUConnected #79 settles into a relaxed teacher catch-up, moving from cold weather and plans for Slide to Learn in Hobart into conference reflections, classroom practice, and hands-on learning.
Classroom technology becomes a shared lesson as students prepare to teach parents.
Are You Connected frames classroom technology as something that can travel home. After a Minecraft camp built around team challenges, the school is preparing sessions where students guide parents through iMovie tutorials, Minecraft, blog commenting, and simple Scratch coding…
A grounded episode about starting over, finding familiar footing, and giving students meaningful responsibility.
Are You Connected? #77 frames reinvention as something practical: a shift in setting, responsibilities, and daily rhythm rather than a dramatic reset.
Two educators trade end-of-year news, conference memories, and practical plans in a warm conversation about work in motion.
Jenny Ashby and Lois Smithhurst check in near the end of an 11-week school term, moving between new jobs, conference memories, and the satisfaction of having a few plans in place.
Classroom practice, school change, and AI with purpose.
Media literacy, tested against real feeds.
Business stories with practical connective tissue.
Edtech talk with classroom sense and snacks.
Free classroom tech, tested by a teacher.
Classroom tech, explained teacher to teacher.
RUConnected #80, recorded on 29 August 2015, turns a catch-up between Jenny and Lois Smithers into a tour of Tournament of the Minds, Sphero balls, drones, Periscope, and conference takeaways from Slide to Learn, ACR, and Digicon.
Jenny Ashby says a $69 Pendo tablet from Officeworks can run Book Creator and Explain Everything, while Lois Smethurst is also reconfiguring two sets of iPads.
RUConnected Ep #78 centers on a Minecraft camp with 18 primary students from four schools and a Volcano World map in Minecraft EDU.
RUConnected #77 follows Lois Smethurst and Jenny Ashby as they compare new roles in the Horizon Centre and the WIM Centre during the March 30 school holidays.
Are You Connected?
Two primary school teachers discuss integrating technology like Scratch, Minecraft, and QR codes into their classrooms.
Two teachers discuss using VoiceThread for international student debates on racism as part of a flat classroom project.
Two teachers discuss the Melbourne Cup holiday and an iPad trial in Victorian schools.
Two Australian primary school teachers discuss a student film festival and share ideas for integrating technology into education.