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Curriculum 21, Heidi Hayes Jacobs and her faculty, have created a new PD "hub" filled with specific links, blogs, organizations, resources, videos and connections to help teachers and learners CONNECT globally. Take a special look at the Global Competencies and Matrix released by Asia Society and CCSSO.

"Not all that long ago, the term "mobile learning" implied laptop computers and mobile carts that were wheeled from classroom to classroom. Now, as a growing number of students carry smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices that can connect to the internet wirelessly through a cellular as well as a Wi-Fi connection, the definition of "mobile learning" is expanding-and with it, the possibilities inherent in the term."

"It's hard to believe that the Google Hangouts (GHOs) feature has only been around since May of 2013! For many innovative K-12 and higher education teachers, GHOs have become a tool that we can't live without. They allow us to connect with others around the world for impromptu meetings, live podcasts, global edcamps, and school-wide professional development."

Blended learning perspectives...

"Dear school leader, Really tired of ho-hum, sit-n-get professional development? You've been there, done that. Why not take control of your own learning? You are the lead learner in your classroom, aren't you? Do you model for your staff and students that you are a learner first and foremost? Embark on a user-generated learning experience, and you won't regret it. But where to begin? Dr. Kristen Swanson is an accomplished educator who truly understands the power of learning communities and networks. She has served as a classroom teacher, educational technology director, and college instructor. She's an active blogger and tweeter and a founding member of the Edcamp Foundation. Her book, Professional Learning in the Digital Age: The Educator's Guide to User-Generated Learning, is a must-read for educators today and belongs on a small shelf with other valuable connected learning resources like The Connected Educator and What School Leaders Need to Know about Digital Technologies and Social Media."

"Online social networking includes much more than Facebook and Twitter. It is any online use of technology to connect people, enable them to collaborate with each other, and form virtual communities."

"Adults forget all that they do while reading. We are predicting, making connections, contextualizing, critiquing, and already plotting how we might use any new insights or information. Yep, we do all that when we read. As teachers, we need to train students in each of these skills, and begin to do so early on. I was recently in a second-grade classroom where 70 percent instruction was in English and 30 percent in Spanish. Most of the children spoke Spanish as their first or home language. "

"By setting up ways to get frequent feedback from students' works in progress, we can find out what they need-before it's too late. Several years ago, I decided that if I were going to spend time writing comments on my students' writing work or on assignments connected to their in-class reading, those comments had to do more than justify a grade. They had to give targeted feedback that would show students how to improve the quality of their work. I'd been finding the hours I spent writing feedback on students' work discouraging. For one thing, students didn't pay attention to my comments, and, for another, the quality of their work wasn't improving. A change in how I responded to their work was necessary. If I wanted my comments to fuel improvement, I realized, I had to build in time for learners to revise their work after receiving my suggestions. Not only did I change the timing of my feedback, but I also streamlined my process of writing comments, allowing myself more time to shift instruction in response to what I'd learned from reviewing work"

179 392 12 inShare 12 Print! 14 Free Resources for Primary Source Documents Primary sources are resources that were first-hand created in a given period of time and never undergone any kind of editing or distortion. These sources are multimodal and they come in different forms. They can be artifacts, documents, pictures, recordings, essays, photographs, maps...etc. Now with the globalization of knowledge and the pervasive use of digital media, primary sources become accessible to everybody with an internet connection. However, the search for these materials is akin to a scavenger hunt and hence the importance of having a handy list such as the one below to keep for rainy days.

"Scannable technology can totally alter the way that you think about teaching and learning in the math classroom. This powerful free and low-cost technology can support students inside and outside the classroom and change the way you think about interacting with content. QR codes and augmented reality are scannable technology tools that are perfect for K-12 math classrooms. A Quick Response (QR) code connects users to a link such as a website, YouTube video, or audio clip. Augmented reality (AR) layers digital content over the real world. There are a handful of apps that have pre-made AR experiences and a few tools that you can use to create your own. Once you explore these tools and understand their capabilities, scannable technology offers exciting possibilities for deeper learning."

"At the end of a project-based learning (PBL) experience, students typically share what they have learned or discovered with an audience. Depending on the project, students might publish their work online, make presentations at a public event, or pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. For veteran PBL teacher Don Wettrick, "nothing is better than a project that gets community buy-in." Connecting students with an authentic audience is key, he says, to driving engagement and helping students relate what they are learning to the real world. "My top two goals are to help students find great opportunities [for real-world problem solving], and then cheerlead them to a great audience." "

"Growing numbers of Twin Cities teachers are embracing blogs as a way to improve their students' writing skills, and students are discovering how they can connect with a global audience."

Gooru is via Google Incredible learning and teaching curation and connection resource

"Public schools are keenly aware of the power of the mainstream media; a critical television segment or a laudatory newspaper article will be talked about in the hallways for days. But the landscape has shifted, and school leaders must embrace a new, growing reality: social media has become the source for breaking news. "

"he Someday/Monday dichotomy captures one of the core challenges in teacher professional development around education technology. On the one hand, deep integration of new learning technologies into classrooms requires substantially rethinking pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and teacher practice (someday). For technology to make a real difference in student learning, it can't just be an add-on. On the other hand, teachers need to start somewhere (Monday), and one of the easiest ways for teachers to get experience with emerging tools is to play and experiment in lightweight ways: to use technology as an add-on. Teachers need to imagine a new future-to build towards Someday-and teachers also need new activities and strategies to try out on Monday. Both pathways are important to teacher growth and meaningful, sustained changes in teaching and learning."

"Friend Our World is an online learning hub for children to unite in friendship games of geography, languages and global citizenship. Friend Our World runs throughout September with a special focus around International Day of Peace on 21 September. Be part of the largest ever peace event for schools Great teaching resources and prizes Special global forum on anti-bullying strategies for schools Register and get started in less than one minute Open to all school children and completely FREE of charge"

"The folks at Twisted Sifter shared a really cool compilation of maps this week in their article "40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World." These cool maps gave me a chance to reflect on the world from different perspectives and I wondered how awesome some of these conversations would be in the classroom. The Twisted Sifter post was a great reminder, especially here at the beginning of the next school year, that educators have a responsibility to share other perspectives around the world and invite those perspectives into the classroom. In fact, it's one of the seven College and Career Readiness Capacities that are the umbrella over the entire ELA Standards document. This capacity asks that students come to understand other perspectives and cultures."

"This is a great idea in theory, and obviously one that educators should think about, but often I hear that there is no money to make this happen in schools. How are we to provide this type of opportunity in organizations where resources are scarce? Where does theory become reality? To make this happen, it is not about thinking outside of the box, but being innovative inside of it."

"Who Says You Can't Replicate Another School's Success? In this package, we show you how a rural school district in northwest Georgia transformed the way its students learn, using the inspiration and mentorship provided by San Diego's acclaimed High Tech High."

"February 5, 2011 Paula Naugle and Jan Wells are 4th grade teachers from Louisiana and Kansas. In this webinar they share their lessons learned, experiences, and celebrations as Skype buddies."