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"One of the perplexing things that teachers and educators encounter when trying to understand educational technology and leverage into their classrooms is the abundance of those baffling techie terms. Blended Learning is different from Differentiated Learning, Educational Technology might not be necessarily Instructional Technology, a Virtual Classroom is different from an Electronic Classroom or Flipped Classroom; there is also asynchronous, synchronous, and personalized learning, these and many more are but some examples of the growing terminology in this field. This infographic is dubbed Ed Tech Cheat Sheet is a fabulous guide to help you learn about the important trends in educational technology."

"Over the past year, in my work with ASCD affiliates, we have been exploring ways to revolutionize the ways we serve their affiliate members. Why? The writing is on the wall that today's educators have different needs and expectations. It's difficult to get out of the classroom to attend conferences, and when educators can get away for professional development they want to be actively engaged in acquiring meaning and building understanding. One concept I have asked affiliates to explore is the deconstruction of conferences, workshops and seminars into a newly emerging kind of professional development: the unconference."

"Alan November's "Digital Learning Farm" was the inspiration for my classroom jobs. The idea couldn't be more simple: people are empowered through meaningful work. Children used to be, in the times of farming, useful and necessary contributors to their families' farms and other livelihoods. Once children's work became going to school full-time, that feeling of usefulness and importance faded. Most teachers understand the importance of giving kids jobs to do, and many traditional classrooms do designate roles such as "line leader" and "pencil sharpener"to fulfill these needs. Digital tools offer the possibility of exciting upgrades to these jobs, allowing students to learn through doing while making authentic contributions to their communities."

"Even before the invention of photography, certain images have gained iconic status in human culture. Our history and art textbooks are full of examples and many of them are etched in our memories. 440px-Join_or_DieBenjamin Franklin's "Join or Die" snake image, said to be the first American political cartoon, originally appeared during the French and Indian War, was repurposed by Paul Revere in 1775, and continues to be a powerful representation of the movement toward U.S. independence and nationhood. More recent visual texts, from the Hindenburg disaster, to Iwo Jima, to MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, to the haunting images of September 11, help us understand what "iconic" means in terms of cultural memory and messaging."

"As I wrote in my last column, the traditional skill we have valued in teachers when paper was the dominant media-the ability to transfer knowledge of a subject-is becoming less important. Increasingly, a teacher's knowledge can be found online and in various learning styles. As the internet drives down the value of a teacher's knowledge, their ability to personalize learning with resources from around the world will increase. We will have more data generated about our students as we build out our online communities. We will need teachers who understand how to make meaning of this data to personalize learning for every student from a vast digital library of learning resources. Also, of increasing value is their ability to teach students to be self-disciplined about how "to learn to learn." Rather than losing overall value, teachers will be more important than ever. The big change is not adding technology to the current design of the classroom, but changing the culture of teaching and learning and fundamentally changing the job descriptions of teachers and learners. I offer seven questions we typically ask of teachers in the interview process, along with corresponding questions I think are geared to align with how the internet will force the redefinition of a teacher's added value..."

"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."

"Are you having trouble listening with understanding and empathy (one of the Habits of Mind) when you are not face to face with the other person-on facebook, Google+, twitter, or other social networks? As an educator, staying in touch with your professional learning network digitally is a boon to the quantity of communication, but without the proper habits, you may not be reaping the quality you might."

"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."

"One of the most wonderful things about working with 5- and 6-year-olds is their ability to talk and communicate how they feel, their opinion, their ideas and what they understand. They have an amazing ability and willingness to communicate. The communication is spontaneous, contagious, fun and so important as we begin to learn together. Their language is encouraged, enriched and enhanced through authentic opportunities to engage"

"Do you wish your students could better understand and critique the images that saturate their waking life? That's the purpose of visual literacy (VL), to explicitly teach a collection of competencies that will help students think through, think about and think with pictures."

"If education is viewed as a relationship with students, families, and the community, then good communication should be a priority. Communication skills are critically important in education. Teachers and administrators communicate with parents/guardians, community leaders, co-workers, and other stakeholders. A principal can be successful if he understands curriculum design and knows how to support teachers. However, if his communication skills are weak he will not last long as a school administrator. In a world where most people use a SmartPhone for coupons, Twitter, Facebook, alerts from the pharmacy, seeking information, and driving directions, families expect to receive real time communication from school staff. While it is important to focus on curriculum development, assessment, healthy school lunches, exercise, and student safety, some schools could benefit from focusing on how well educators are communicating. Educators could begin by asking, "Are we communicating?" "

"A performance task is any learning activity or assessment that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency. Performance tasks yield a tangible product and/or performance that serve as evidence of learning. Unlike a selected-response item (e.g., multiple-choice or matching) that asks students to select from given alternatives, a performance task presents a situation that calls for learners to apply their learning in context. Performance tasks are routinely used in certain disciplines, such as visual and performing arts, physical education, and career-technology where performance is the natural focus of instruction. However, such tasks can (and should) be used in every subject area and at all grade levels."

"Ever since Twitter introduced its live streaming service, Periscope, earlier this year, educators have become enamored. It's not hard to understand why. The video app is integrated right into your Twitter account and boasts an impressive number of education applications, from broadcasting a riveting unconference discussion for a global audience to impromptu blended learning for students. But while opportunities abound, so do privacy and other concerns."

"If you had a chance to read "Twitter for Teachers: A Beginner's Guide" from last week, then you understand a few of the basics. Now, you might be looking for the Twitter magic: the cool and invaluable tools you always hear people talking about. Twitter chats are one great way to engage with educators around the world. You can find chats of every size, topic, and speed to grow your Personal Learning Network (PLN). There aren't titles and rank on Twitter; everyone is there to learn and share. It's an incredibly valuable tool for boosting your teacher morale and finding great classroom solutions!"

"Talk to technology people at school districts, and nearly everyone wants to take their community in the same direction. The most progressive districts today are moving away from teacher-focused education and toward student-centric learning." "Teachers really need to understand this instructional shift," she says. "They must become 21st-century learners before they can be 21st-century teachers."

"Food is an integral part of every culture around the world and can be used as a substantive instructional tool. Today, Heather Loewecke, Senior Program Manager, Afterschool and Youth Leadership Initiatives, Asia Society, outlines some ideas for incorporating food and cooking into classrooms and afterschool programs."

"Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression) is a national movement that celebrates and inspires youth self-expression through Spoken Word Poetry. Conceived in 2004, Project V.O.I.C.E. encourages young people to engage with the world around them and use Spoken Word Poetry as an instrument through which they can explore and better understand their culture, their society, and ultimately themselves. Project V.O.I.C.E. brings together performance, writing, and a supportive environment to inspire youth to recognize that their views are significant, valid, and necessary. "

"This is a crucial time for education. Every system in every country is in the process of figuring out how to reboot education to teach skills, application, and attitude in addition to recall and understanding. Helping students be able to grapple with increased problem solving and inquiry, be better critical and creative thinkers, show greater independence and engagement, and exhibit skills as presenters and collaborators is the challenge of the moment. That's why so many educators are using the project based learning (PBL) model. PBL has proven to be a means for setting up the kind of problem-solving challenges that engage students in deeper learning and critical inquiry. It requires students to research, collaborate, decide on the value of information and evidence, accept feedback, design solutions, and present findings in a public space-all factors that create the conditions under which high performance and mastery are most likely to emerge. The rise of PBL, in fact, is a success story for education."

"Teaching students to respect the intellectual property of others is important in this digital "cut and paste" world we live in. One great project to share with students that can better help them understand how and when they may use images created by others is the Creative Commons project."

"Whether you're a technophobe or a geeked-out early adopter, there's no denying that the world is run on computers, and the language of computers is code. It seems only natural that there's a wave of interest in the idea of teaching kids to code -- some say it should be a requirement in every school. I think no one would argue that every kid is cut out to be a programmer, but a basic understanding of code couldn't hurt. In fact, this knowledge could give a leg up in an increasingly technology-centric society. Hopefully this playlist of videos will help you learn more about some of the people and organizations who are working to change the opportunities available for kids to learn code."