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"Yes, as a parent or teacher you might feel you are in a constant fight and you may win some and loose some battles but if we are careful, I believe we will win the war. With some thought and a positively mindset, this screen time might create a generation of thinking, creative and collaborative people. By setting up structures to help the children self-manage their screen time, I am hoping that I can already see the benefits of what these apps have to offer transferred to 'real-life' with two girls who are happy to help, keen to solve problems and create projects of their own design. Make sure you make some time to showcase the results of their more productive device use and it will encourage more."

"Makerspaces, sometimes also referred to as hackerspaces, hackspaces, and fablabs are creative, DIY spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn. In libraries they often have 3D printers, software, electronics, craft and hardware supplies and tools, and more. Here are some excellent resources for anyone thinking about setting up a makerspace in their organization."

"Innovation is a trait that I desperately want to instill in my students, and many teachers I talk to seem to share that goal. In the current climate of high stakes testing, state standards, and prescribed learning outcomes, it can be incredibly difficult to foster an atmosphere of innovation and creativity that inspires students. But rest assured, it is possible. Here, I outline eight basic principles for the "Innovative Classroom," around which I designed a middle school course called Physical Computing. Some of the projects and tools are specific to that course, but I think the fundamental ideas could be applied to almost any course at any level."

"Build a fort! A treehouse! A fort on top of a treehouse surrounded by a moat filled with molten lava! Children are endlessly fascinated by what we adults considered mundane and their imagination truly knows no limits. Children are the best builders in the world and can use any building material in order to create the most vivid worlds. And now, there are building apps for kids so they can hone their building skills in a virtual world. Building games are a great outlet for kids who enjoy doing solitary, creative work and then wish to test their concepts in practice. Unlike a shooting or a racing game, a 3D building game rewards patience, planning and thinking ahead. Through a building game, a child gains confidence, achieves a sense of accomplishment and develops in itself a sense of pride through the development and application of its own ideas, plans and thoughts."

"The Global Cardboard Challenge is an opportunity for children to play and learn by using simple materials to build the things they imagine. The Cardboard Challenge: lets children explore their interests and passions teaches valuable "21st Century" skills like critical thinking, resourcefulness, perseverance and teamwork brings communities together to foster and celebrate child creativity"

"I'm in Minecraft, of course-the phenomenally popular, open-ended game that places players in a world in which they can live and build things infinitely. Marcus "Notch" Persson, the Swedish creator of Minecraft, started out by creating a simple game, allowing players to construct whatever they wanted, using a few different colored blocks, each equivalent to one cubic meter. Released in 2009, it has evolved into a massive, world-building video game in which players uses those blocks to create anything they can think of, from houses, caves, and machines to a scale version of the Death Star. Microsoft purchased Minecraft from Notch and his team for $2.5 billion in November 2014. There aren't any express objectives or any real way to win in Minecraft. It's a "sandbox," in gaming speak-offering free play without a specific goal and currently used by more than 18.5 million players, with some 20,000 more signing up every day. Users may choose between Creative Mode, in which they can build using unlimited resources by themselves or with friends, with no real danger or enemies, and Survival Mode, where they fend off enemies and other players and fight for resources and space. They can trade items and communicate using a chat bar. Modifications (or mods) can add complexity by creating things like economic systems that let players buy and sell resources from in-game characters using an in-game currency system. These downloadable mods can also add computer science concepts and thousands of additional features."

Today was Dr. Davey's first Maker Day, and an amazing one at that! Here's a look at our day. All of the Grade 1-Grade 7 students participated in today's Maker Day. Students attended two of seven different sessions based on their interests: Minecraft/Coding, Collaborative Art, Beautiful Junk, Positive Graffiti, Making Music, Lego/Blocks, and Egg Drop. Staff members paired up together to facilitate the learning at each of the sessions, and the students directed most of the learning based on their interests. I (Aviva) worked with an amazing Grade 4 student that led the Minecraft/Coding session, and even worked with small groups of students on coding the Arduino. It was really quite incredible! After two sessions, students reflected on the day and on their learning, and then extended the "Maker Learning" back in the classroom. Today was all about the Learning Skills, problem solving, creativity and critical thinking. As you can hear in our video reflection, there were also links to our classroom learning including Science (Structures) and Math (shapes, figures, and non-standard measurement). There was also a lot of Arts learning today (with creating music and creating works of art including the elements of design). What an amazing day!"

"f you're planning to give project-based learning a try during the coming school year, you may hope a spark of inspiration will strike during the summer months that will lead to a memorable PBL experience. And maybe that's just the excuse that hard-working teachers need to take a hike or daydream by a pool. But here's another surefire strategy for PBL planning: borrow project ideas from your colleagues and adapt or remix to fit your context. Here are ten project ideas that I've gathered from a busy season of summer conferences and professional development events (including ISTE 2015 and PBL World, an annual event hosted by the Buck Institute for Education). By sharing their thinking at this early draft stage, teachers invite feedback from peers. That's another strategy for effective project planning. (Most project ideas were shared anonymously and some are mashups of similar suggestions. Thanks to the creative teachers behind these PBL plans.)"

Students learn how to think creatively as Web researchers.

Preparing today's youth to succeed in the digital economy requires a new kind of teaching and learning. Skills such as global literacy, computer literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and innovation have become critical in today's increasingly interconnected workforce and society (eSchool News

"Some of the best games for learning aren't developed with schools in mind. But these more commercial games can be tough to wedge into a classroom. Even the most motivated teachers have to sideline these games because of scarce technology, budget, and/or time. Summer break presents the perfect opportunity for students to dig into games and build skills that'll reap huge rewards when they return in the fall. Game making can be one of the best ways to get students thinking creatively while cultivating useful technical literacies, and there's a ton of absorbing tools that students won't tire of over the long break. Here are three options to choose from depending on the type of technology students have at home"

"Today I want to share with you this awesome read I came across in Global Citizen Education. The article is entitled " 21st Century Fluencies" and is basically based on Crockett et al.'s book Literacy is Not Enough. The main argument in this paper is that 21st century fluencies are process skills that students need in order to thrive in a rapidly changing world. These process skills include things such critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and innovation to mention but a few. "The 21st century fluencies", as the authors of this work state, "are not about hardware, they are about headware and heartware"."

"Every day, your students are tested with each post, search, chat, text message, file download, and profile update. Do they connect with like minds or spill too much information? Do they behave creatively or borrow ideas recklessly? Do they respect relationships or inadvertently damage reputations? Join us for Digital Citizenship Week and engage students, teachers, and families in your community in thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly online. It's a great way to celebrate Connected Educator Month, so dive into the suggested activities and resources. And be sure to post what you're doing to the Connected Educator Month calendar and tag your plans as "DigitalCitizenshipWeek" to inspire others to get involved."

"Last year I taught third-grade math in a whole new way. Combining elements from the wildly popular sandbox game Minecraft, I had students thinking visually and creatively about mathematical models and theories that went way beyond a typical third-grade curriculum, transforming math class into what I like to call Mathcraft. Why Minecraft? I could say I am using Minecraft for a number of reasons, like how I find Minecraft enhances metacognition by increasing students' memory storage capacity. The game itself creates a relatable enjoyable experience that can be internalized and shared in a community of learners. The limitations on the working memory are minimized because the gameplay itself is an extension of our visual sketchpad. Working with students they always say, "I can see it," and when they see it they share it."

"Originally, we used Book Creator in English lessons, where children enjoyed producing more creative and interactive pieces, using the various tools, such as images for scenes in their stories or to link with the subject of their non-fiction work. It also helped our younger years' classes, both with writing and speaking and listening because the children were able to record their sentences, using the microphone tool. Moreover, we have a significant number of children who speak English as an additional language, so Book Creator provides excellent support for them too because they are able to practice both their written and speaking skills simultaneously. Book Creator can really work in the science classroom, according to @MrW_BVPS CLICK TO TWEET The hypothesis Realising the potential of Book Creator, I wanted to see how effective it would be in other subject areas. In this instance, we used it in Science. The children were investigating the importance of surface area when thinking about floating and sinking. I felt this would be a good fit because it would help to immerse the children in the experiment."

"Report cards are coming home, and a good number of parents are worried that their child seems to be showing signs of a learning disability. Their concern is well founded; learning disabilities including A.D.H.D. and dyslexia affect 20% of our students and less than half get the attention they need. That is a large community, in fact, the largest minority in the country. For these kids, often the day is longer, the challenge greater, the work harder. Unless we identify and assist them, the national cost in human potential and hard dollars will be tremendous. Kids with learning disabilities drop out ten times more frequently than others in high school, and are much more likely to use drugs and get involved in our jail system. The impact when this large a social group fails is felt by all of us. A learning problem is not an intelligence problem -- these children are smart, creative, and capable. They can and do learn; however, they think differently, access and process information in an atypical way. That is where opportunity lies, and where we are falling far short."

"The iMovie app could possibly be my favorite app on my iPad.  It's a versatile app that can lead to a whole lot of creation in your classroom  Yes, I know that iMovie on my MacBook Pro has all the bells and whistles, but I believe that the app has all the ingredients to make some pretty powerful products in your classroom. I love the fact that the app allows our students (and us) to make thinking visible.   There are so many ways that you can use iMove in the classroom.  From knowledge to comprehension, every level of Bloom's taxonomy is easily addressed using the iMovie app.  I plan on teaching our K-5 students how to use the iMovie app in the coming weeks and I can't wait to see the creativity that is generated! The best thing about iMovie is that you can use it with a lot of other apps! App Smashing?  Try using iMovie as the final app to display your app smash.  Just drop your products in from the photo library, do a voice over and you have created a product that allows you to showcase the learning happening in your classroom! I have created a folder on my iPad of apps that I use to supplement some of the videos that I produce. Here are some of my favorites:"

"It's been more than three years since Caine Monroy's elaborate cardboard arcade in front of his dad's used auto parts shop was catapulted to fame by Nirvan Mullick's short film. But last summer, after two years and tens-of-thousands of customers, Cain "retired" on his eleventh birthday and closed Caine's Arcade to the public. The last day was probably a first step for Caine, though. The film has been seen 8 million times and counting, and it has spun into a movement that's spawned numerous think pieces, a scholarship fund, and a TEDx talk. Most notably, it spurred the creation of the Imagination Foundation, which aims to find, foster, and fund creativity in kids through programs such as the Global Cardboard Challenge and pop-up learning spaces called Imagination Chapters."

"What is 21st century learning? It is collaboration. It is creativity. It is critical thinking and problem-solving. It is research and information literacy. It is digital citizenship. It is responsible use. We expect our children to develop these skills. We integrate these skills in our every day lessons so that our students can grow and expand their knowledge. We create spaces so that our students can create and collaborate, whether it is a physical space or a virtual space. We expect our students to be good digital citizens, using devices, programs, and tools responsibly.  We want our students to ask questions and explore for answers.  We expect our students to learn, grow, and then reflect on that learning. So, wouldn't we expect the same skills for ourselves as educators and professionals?"