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"This week, we're launching the official Edutopia Pinterest account. Whether you're an avid pinner or just a beginner, follow us! Get started by watching the videos below for some ideas about what Pinterest is and how educators are using it."

"So it's mid-August and for many teachers the new school year has begun and for others it's not too far away. Some of you will be starting at new schools and with that there's a chance that you'll be coming to terms with a new interactive whiteboard. You may already be familiar with whiteboards already, and are just starting at a school with a different brand. Either way, here's a summary of blogposts I've written in the past that hopefully will prove useful to you."

This could be a useful reference for some of you heading to schools.

Online Colleges has posted an interesting new infographic that looks at the connection between apps and education. The chart, which we've included here, suggests that the use of smartphones and tablets will only increase in the future, which really shouldn't come as a surprise.

"Innovation is the currency of progress. In our world of seismic changes, innovation has become a holy grail that promises to shepherd us through these uncertain and challenging times. And there isn't a more visible symbol of innovation than the iPad. It's captured the hearts and minds of disparate subcultures and organizations. In education it's been widely hailed as a revolutionary device, promising to transform education as we know it. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as bulk purchasing iPads and deploying them into the wilds of education. Innovation can't be installed. It has to be grown -- and generally from the margins. "

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

I looked a voicethread. I like the idea, but as an educator, and one that will probably work in the public system, having to pay for resources isn't always an option. I think I'll stick to trying to find a free version!

Kristy Tan showed me this awesome website for resources and information about iPads in the classroom. Check it out!!

"The iPhone and iPad provide several avenues for organizing your ideas and thoughts. In addition to text editors, list organizers, and outlining applications another category exists for Mind Mappers. If you are a visual learner then you may be familiar with the technique of Mind Mapping. Mind Maps are diagrams containing a central idea with branches for related topics. So if you need to solve a perplexing problem or plan the next big thing, one of these Mind Mapping Apps may be just what you need. "

Great website for hands on activities for science K-12

"Oxford Owl is a FREE website built to support you with your child's learning. To help you along the way, you'll find age-specific reading and maths tips and activities, FREE eBooks, and lots of fun ideas to really bring your child's learning to life. You will also find support and advice on a range of questions you may have - including helping your child with their phonics, motivating boys to read and ensuring your child is doing their best in maths."

A Potpourri of tips ideas and videos related to Web 2.0 from Jeff Thomas

"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."

"iPadagogy is a YouTube channel dedicated to instruction videos of useful iPad apps for education"

In 2012 Musgrave Hill SS is entering a new phase in learning as we begin an Apple trial to investigate the effectiveness of iPads for all students, in particular special needs students in mainstream classrooms. We have three target classrooms working with iPads 1:2 with students and two sets of six iPads available for all classes to borrow for use inteaching and learning. The classes in the 1:2 project have several special needs students and a teams of teachers and aides who will support the students, their learning and the project. We will document the iPad Project and provide data that we hope will substantiate our belief that iPads and many other digital technologies are essential to support teaching and learning at our school in the 21st Century.

"Dropbox, the app we all (at least many of us) know and love, has a plethora of advanced uses to make life so much easier in managing data between multiple computers and online. We've posted several roundups of tips and tricks for Dropbox and now we present our ultimate toolkit and guide. We've pulled all our tips and tricks together and added quite a few more. Additionally, share your Dropbox tips and tricks and we'll update the list to share the fun with everyone."

"Call it the "learning paradox": the more you struggle and even fail while you're trying to master new information, the better you're likely to recall and apply that information later. The learning paradox is at the heart of "productive failure," a phenomenon identified by Manu Kapur, a researcher at the Learning Sciences Lab at the National Institute of Education of Singapore. Kapur points out that while the model adopted by many teachers and employers when introducing others to new knowledge - providing lots of structure and guidance early on, until the students or workers show that they can do it on their own - makes intuitive sense, it may not be the best way to promote learning. Rather, it's better to let the neophytes wrestle with the material on their own for a while, refraining from giving them any assistance at the start."

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

Little Bird Tales is a great online site, (similar to photostory), for creating digital stories that can be embedded into your site all you need do is "Step 1 Create or upload your artwork to each page. Step 2 Record your voice and add text to each page. Step 3 Email friends and family your finished book. "

This looks wonderful (and easy!). I've created my account and am going to use it to create a book with my Kindergarten class to share with their families! Thanks John. (Loving Diigo!)

"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"

"Evernote is a wonderful program which I use every day. At a simple level, it lets you store notes about anything that you choose. These are all synced so that you can access them using the PC / Mac / iPhone / iPad / Android / Blackberry (and other) versions of the software, as well as via the Evernote website itself. Having the notes available everywhere is a fantastic feature and it means that you should always have access to whatever you have stored within Evernote. Evernote has a wide range of potential uses for teachers, so I thought that I would share some of the ways that I use it as part of my own work, both in and outside of the classroom:"

I love Evernote and here's ten more good reasons why you should consider using it too.