"A quiet revolution has taken place in recent months, as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and other internet gatekeepers have revised their search algorithms in an attempt to bring users more personalized information. This subtle shift has enormous implications for students, researchers, and society at large, experts say. When web surfers use Google or Bing to look for information about, say, the national debt, the search results they now see at the top of the page might differ from those of their neighbor. That's because all the major search engines have revamped their formulas to include social media data as key indicators of a website's importance."

"What is Vrroom, an ever-growing set of records from the National Archives collection, for anyone learning to use archival records. A tool for 20th-century Australian History, Civics & Citizenship and more - see curriculum connections rich in learning content developed in partnership with the Curriculum Corporation through The Learning Federation"

"Fifty years ago, the ratio was a million to one. For every person on the news or on primetime, there were a million viewers. The explosion of magazines brought the ratio to 100,000:1. If you wrote for a major magazine, you were going to impact a lot of people. Most of us were consumers, not creators."

Interesting to contemplate.....

Russell Stannard creates video tutorial series related to a number of tools including Wall Wisher, Voicethread, Fotobabble and lots more.

"VIDEO games have become one of the most notable features of our culture, yet the industry receives relatively scant attention in mainstream media. This is not only curious, it is unfortunate; because many parents and carers and educators remain unnecessarily wary of this crucible of creativity. The reach of these games is expanding with the take-up of smartphones and tablet computers. A recent study by the head of media communications and technology at Bond University, Jeffrey Brand, found that about 95 per cent of Australian children under 15 play video games."

Joyce Valenza has created this wikispace list of all manner of copyright free searches and portals. As well as images and music their are pages related to avatar makers, concept mapping and clipart.

"Automatoon is completely web based and free. There's no fussy authoring software to install (or pay for!) and you can effortlessly share your animations online. You can also easily export your animations and embed them in your own websites, all for free! (Some premium features cost extra.)"

"Google+ Hangouts are proving one of the most popular features of the new social networking service, but there's no built-in option to record them. Until Google adds such functionality, we've found five workarounds to help you record your next Hangout - free. While we'd strongly suggest any G+ pros invest in specialist software, our solutions will suffice for capturing consumer Hangouts and offer easy sharing options, too. Take a look through the gallery for our five tested suggestions - which vary from quick and simple browser-based options to more advanced software downloads - and let us know in the comments any alternate ways you've recorded your Hangouts."

"Most of the guides out there for working with Creative Commons content, especially images, are for image makers who want to pick a license for making their own work available. Even the Creative Commons site itself is geared toward Creative Commons license users, and not Creative Commons-licensed content users. So as a small Public Service Announcement, we've put together this brief intro to Creative Commons image usage. This guide is aimed at two types of users: 1) publishers big and small who want a high-level overview of Creative Commons licensing and the issues involved in sorting out what can be used where, and 2) advertisers big and small, who want to make use of Creative Commons-licensed images while staying in the good graces of content makers and end-users. "

"I've been thinking and reading about what it would be like to teach a (math) class in a school with a Bring Your Own Device policy. My answer: "My class will teach the world what they learn with me. Everything will be accessible online and on a mobile device." Here's what I would set up: "

"I normally blog on business issues, but something happened at my house yesterday that compelled me to write this post. Please share it with the people in your life who use social media. Everyone needs some social smarts."

"A new Iowa Future video, "Iowa, Did You Know?," highlights the drastic changes occurring in Iowa and the world, and shows that schools are struggling to keep up in today's dynamic new global environment. The video premiered at this week's School Administrators of Iowa Conference. This fast-paced video emphasizes the magnitude of the challenges ahead, the need for Iowans to support the changes that schools must make if our learners are to be career, college, and citizenship ready, and the imperative to do this now, rather than later."

"Revolver Maps are interactive visitor globes rendered by the Revolver Engine. Check the widget on the left: Use the buttons or drag to navigate. The Revolver Graphics Engine is a strongly specialized 3D renderer. It's available as a Java version as well as a Flash version. The RevolverMaps Service bases on both implementations. Now have a closer look: Every visitor leaves an eternal dot on the globe, recent visitors are tagged by the labels showing flag, city and state. You're invited to set up a globe and add it to your site in just a few steps: "

"At first Snozerr looks like most audio recorders, until you notice the button for the camera. This app gives you the ability to take photos while recording audio; each picture is timestamped to the point in the recording where the photo was taken, and you can easily synchronize the images with the audio for later playback. This combination of features makes Snozerr an ideal app for students recording lectures and workers recording presentations with lots of infographics. You can use the timestamped photos to target the interesting parts of the lecture and ignore the non-relevant parts. All of the voice and photo files created in one session are linked together, so it is easy to share content with your peers. The app also supports nested hierarchical organization, dual cameras, and sending files by email."

Get information on Google's newest search features and learn tips from basic to advanced. For even more on Google search, explore our Playground of fun features, or go "Under the Hood" to explore the technology that powers your searches.

"Scribble Maps is the quick and easy way to rapidly make and share maps! With Scribble Maps you can: - Draw shapes and Scribble! - Pace Markers and text - Create a Custom Widget - Save as KML/GPX - Send maps to friends Whether it is planning a vacation, or plotting a hiking trail, Scribble Maps can help you out! Note: Menu button is in the top left corner."

I have been updating my collections of search engines - adding in new ones that I've previously blogged about and removing ones that no longer exist. It's of course not a complete listing - some I simply have ignored as I really don't rate them, others I just don't know about! However, the majority of them are ones that I think are worth looking at in different subject areas. There's more to search than Google. If you have time, please take a look, and consider trying out some new ones. You can access them all via my 'Which Search Engine When' page and pull down menus, but here's an overview.

"PaintGo! is an online paint, color and drawing activity for children. It features many colors, fun stickers and children's artwork."

"Teaching Channel is a video showcase -- on the Internet and TV -- of inspiring and effective teaching practices in America's schools. We are a nonprofit organization."