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"Over the last month or so EmergingEdTech ran a survey seeking input from educators like you. The goal was to make sure we understand what you want to know about education and instructional technology, and what your biggest challenges are as an educator. The survey received nearly 160 responses (thank you!). Results are being shared results in two parts. This first post deals with the technology-specific questions, and a second shorter post will follow that focuses on the your most significant professional challenges."

"A rigorous and engaging classroom….what does that look like?  Recently I tweeted a link to an article by David Price that challenged the current perception of what student engagement looks like. The article was a summation and analysis of a 20 year longitudinal study of Australian students.  Using the study, David's article addressed the following myths. 1. I can see when my students are engaged 2. They must be engaged, look at their test scores 3. They must be engaged - they're having fun The article (found here) was an incredibly interesting read but the Twitter conversation after my post was for me the most interesting part. "

""Blogging - an essential online space" (link to the recording)  was the theme of this week's Tech Talk Tuesdays. I feel stronly that blogging should be open and online. Why?  Otherwise students should use offline tools to document their learning etc. A question was asked "How can we ensure that students are safe and secure whilst blogging?" Here are some suggestions:"

"Teachers and their students are moving more and more online. Kids are blogging their learning as an excellent way to build confidence, reflect and gather feedback. Schools are showcasing the best of their students' work on their websites.and the educational world is benefiting from a collaborative worldwide connections. That's all exciting and positive but we have one important question: Who owns the material and it's components when it's published? This is where we must all be careful. A quick Google search will find a growing number of cases where people have sought damages for even single images republished on both blogs and social media like Twitter. This link tells the story of a bad photo taken on a phone that was found on Google and used In a blog Post resulting in an $8000 out of court settlement. Every photo is owned by the photographer automatically and if you choose the wrong image you can loose out substantially."

"Ask a question, make a hypothesis, and observe what happens in this Sesame Street interactive science experiment! Help renowned scientists, Cookie Monster and Emma, investigate what sinks in water and what floats in water! Experiment with a rubber band ball, a lime and lemon, Ernie's rubber duckie, and a coconut. Start the experiment here! Will Bert's underpants sink or float? Go to http://www.sesamestreet.org/sinkorfloat for the full interactive experiment and find out."

Check out this really neat use of hot spots in YouTube movies to make interactive movies

"Google has made it possible for us to have instant information gratification. Just start typing the first letters of your search word and the site intuits your question and offers you the smartest choice of answers. Seems simple enough. But as quick and facile as the process is, there are ways to be even more efficient, more search-savvy. And it's our responsibility to teach kids how to find and research information, how to judge its veracity, and when it's time to ask for a grownup's help. I spoke to Daniel Russell, Google's "search anthropologist" in charge of Search Quality and User Happiness (yes, really), who brought to light some important tips you may not have known."

If you use Google to search you need to check this out

The Exploratree web resource has been developed by Futurelab and emerged out of our work on the Enquiring Minds project. It provides a series of ready-made interactive 'thinking guides' or 'frameworks' which can support students' projects and research. Thinking guides support the thinking or working through of an issue, topic or question and help to shape, define and focus an idea and also support the planning required to investigate it further. Exploratree guides can be used as a basis for whole class discussion, or emailed to individuals or groups to complete. They can also be used as a presentation tool to share your findings and thinking with others. As well as providing a set of ready to use thinking guides, which are completely customisable and shareable, Exploratree also enables teachers and students to create their own simply and easily.

"Why social media in school? It's a good question and one many schools are asking. Whether is because of the free-flowing nature of the content and material or the potential for distraction sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube many others are being blocked by institutions. It is my belief however that by blocking these sites and not embracing what they have to offer we are only creating and arms race with our students and missing out on using these tools to connected with and provide new learning opportunities for our students."

"The idea of co-constructing knowledge with students can be a scary thing for many of us teachers. The age-old role of teacher as orator, director, sage has been handed down for centuries and most of us grew up as students looking to teachers in this way. It's hard to shake. Co-constructing knowledge means giving up the myself and them role of teacher and students and fully embracing the wonder and journey of us."