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In a recent webinar, more than 90% of school leaders responded that they were leading an innovative school as a result of the implementation of technology. At the end of the webinar, when polled again, only one leader claimed to be leading an innovative school. The complete reversal was due to a presentation of the Six Questions that you will read about in this article.   This list of questions was developed to help educators be clear about the unique added value of a digital learning environment.

"rt has long been recognized as an important part of a well-rounded education - but when it comes down to setting budget priorities, the arts rarely rise to the top. Many public schools saw their visual, performing and musical arts programs cut completely during the last recession, despite the many studies showing that exposure to the arts can help with academics too. A few schools are taking the research to heart, weaving the arts into everything they do and finding that the approach not only boosts academic achievement but also promotes creativity, self-confidence and school pride."

"Innovation… Versatility… Performance… What teacher doesn't want to provide the best technology has to offer for students? But with a plethora of choices, sometimes it's overwhelming trying to determine what device best suits the needs of all learners. So, what should educators choose-the power of a laptop or the compact, lightweight portability of a tablet? Well, it's no longer necessary to settle for one option when the best of both worlds are at your fingertips. Yep, it's true. With the latest and greatest technologies currently available on the market, students now have access to the functionality of a laptop while also having the capability of completing captivating assignments and/or creating meaningful content via a tablet. And better yet: The instruction and learning goals can dictate the type of device being used as opposed to the reverse, which typically occurs in classrooms today. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? In case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm referring to a super cool technology known as the 2-in-1. Whether your students need to generate a document or spreadsheet, transfer files, read an e-book, capture photos or create media, this hybrid does it all with just one simple twist, click or flip. Not only is this option flexible and convenient, but cost-effective as well because schools no longer need to provide students with more than one device to achieve desired outcomes. It's really all that-and much more!"

"Wikipedia is the seventh most-popular website on the Internet and is the web's most popular and largest reference resource. Many instructors decry student reliance on this online encyclopedia open to anyone to edit, but I am part of a growing movement of teachers who integrates student editing of Wikipedia pages into our pedagogy. There are many pedagogical reasons for this; integrating Wikipedia editing into your courses teaches students to navigate the rules and social norms of an online community of knowledge creation, trains them in developing responsible public-facing research, and introduces them to ways of dealing with a variety of responses to their work."

"This is the second article I posted here on SAMR iPad apps in less than two weeks. Why? I love SAMR and I find it a very good pedagogical framework that teachers can draw on to not only integrate technology into their instruction but also assess the efficiency of this technology. And since iPad is a leitmotif in  today's learning, its alignment with SAMR model will definitely assist teachers in making the most of the educational potential of this versatile device. To this end , I am sharing with you this wonderful illustrative chart I stumbled upon on Apps in Education."

""You've got to know the rules to break them." Says McQueen. In my role, this means two things: It means that you are never asking teachers to do anything other than teach in the ways that they know work and inspire their students. You are simply giving them additional options. It means that you need to train up teachers to be confident with technology - if they know what they can do, then there is a choice of they do with that knowledge"

"A few weeks ago I presented at a teachmeet at the the Sydney Powerhouse Museum, AKA the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The topic was STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) + X (STEM+X). The idea was to share some of the things you have done and/or are doing in your classroom or workplace around integrating STEM with other KLAs, for example, a STEM and PE project would be STEM + PE. When I was asked to present, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share how I've been using Minecraft in my classroom over the last few years and how it really can be used across all subject areas. Just like the 'play' within the game itself, what you do with it in the classroom is only limited by your own creativity and that of your students. Below I will share some of the cool things that my students and i have done and how they link to KLAs across the curriculum."

"This is episode 28 of the TeachThought Podcast! Drew Perkins talks with Allan Carrington, the inventor of the popular Padagogy Wheel, about it's evolution and how to use it to purposefully integrate technology in teaching and learning."

"As finals approached this year, I had a desire to do something different. In the past I've had students write a timed five-paragraph argument essay about whether Montag, from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, is a conformist or nonconformist. My students had already written four essays this year, so I decided to ditch the essay. Instead, I had them select a metaphor from the novel and asked them to bring it to life creating a 3D visual metaphor."

"eaching kids to code is the big topic at the moment. But how do we make it an authentic experience for our students? Certainly in the Primary/Elementary schools, there are many strong connections with other curriculum areas. Let's take a look at some:"

"Research shows that one of the best ways to engage students in content learning is to incorporate the arts. Because of students' openness to the arts, their motivation remains high, their attention spans tend to be longer, and their learning increases -- yet teachers sometimes struggle with how to incorporate the arts while maintaining academic integrity. No matter what type of the arts you desire to bring into the classroom -- music, visual art, creative writing, dance, etc. -- here are five guidelines to help prevent arts integration in the content classroom from simply becoming arts-and-crafts time."