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"When Apple started dropping hints about a coming "tablet PC" in 2009, it would have been difficult to see the way it might change the way we interact with digital media. The first-generation iPad was introduced in April, 2010 and in lieu of some significant hardware limitations, was a world-beater, garnering $1 billion in sales in just 4 months. The iPad 2 was released 11 months later, and the iPad 3 is currently rumored for a Spring 2012 release. While discussing the "history" of a product less than two years old may seem a bit premature technology moves at a dizzying, humming pace. Dog years have nothing on tech years."

1- 8 Great YouTube Channels for Math 2- 7 Great YouTube Channels for Science 3- 7 Excellent YouTube Channels for History Teachers 4- 8 Wonderful YouTube Channels for Kids 5- YouTube 's Official Channels for Educators 6- 10 Great YouTube Channels for Teachers 7- The 10 Most Important Educational Channels for Educators

"The internet has revolutionized information collection. The answer to virtually any question or problem is at our fingertips. Google has made this possible. While I am a great admirer of Google and an avid user of its products, in a way, Google has made my life as a teacher a LOT more difficult. Let me explain. In the "old days" (that would be pre-internet) when a teacher assigned a worksheet with a series of questions on it students had a few options to get the answers. 1. Ask mom. 2. If mom doesn't know, ask Dad. 3. If Dad doesn't know look it up in the textbook. 4. If the answer isn't in the textbook, give up."

"It's no secret that fractions are a very difficult concept for students to understand. But why is that? Fractions are an extremely abstract concept, and without adequate concrete and representational experiences, students do not develop mental images of what the abstract symbols mean.   In Texas, students begin formal fraction instruction in 2nd grade under our newly adopted TEKS, but the symbolic notation for fractions (1/4, 2/3, etc.) is not taught until 3rd grade. The 2nd grade standards include: partition objects into equal parts and name the parts, including halves, fourths, and eighths, using words explain that the more fractional parts used to make a whole, the smaller the part; and the fewer the fractional parts, the larger the part use concrete models to count fractional parts beyond one whole using words and recognize how many parts it takes to equal one whole Let's take a closer look at each."

"n florida, a coalition of parents known as "the recess moms" has been fighting to pass legislation guaranteeing the state's elementary-school students at least 20 minutes of daily free play. Similar legislation recently passed in New Jersey, only to be vetoed by the governor, who deemed it "stupid." When, you might ask, did recess become such a radical proposal? In a survey of school-district administrators, roughly a third said their districts had reduced outdoor play in the early 2000s. Likely culprits include concerns about bullying and the No Child Left Behind Act, whose time-consuming requirements resulted in cuts to play. [1] Disadvantaged kids have been the most likely to be shortchanged: According to a 2003 study, just 56 percent of children living at or below the poverty line had recess, compared with 83 percent of those above the poverty line; a similar disparity was noted between black children and their white peers. [2] FROM OUR DECEMBER 2016 ISSUE Try 2 FREE issues of The Atlantic SUBSCRIBE The benefits of recess might seem obvious-time to run around helps kids stay fit. But a large body of research suggests that it also boosts cognition. Many studies have found that regular exercise improves mental function and academic performance. [3] And an analysis of studies that focused specifically on recess found positive associations between physical activity and the ability to concentrate in class. [4]"

"He also argues that in our standards-focused world, we need to take time for joy within the curriculum, and because it is a great thing to do even if it is not part of required learning. He shares five pieces of advice: 1) Be mindful 2) Create something 3) Commit regular random acts of kindness 4) Turn pseudo learning into real learning 5) Be silly and laugh everyday"

"Principal Matt Renwick is sharing weekly reflections about an afternoon computer club he and a teacher are sponsoring as an enrichment activity. See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4."

"Research by the Penn Graduate School of Education (from the University of Pennsylvania), looking at 1 million students on 16 courses run through Coursera, showed that only half of those enrolled look at a single lecture and an average of 4% completed the course. Let's assume that there's nothing wrong with the product, and nothing wrong with the theory that easier access to education is No Bad Thing. It's something else. It's a commitment thing. It's too much to ask, too big a shift in 'consumer' behaviour, from directed learning to self-directed. So perhaps we should get used to this new style of learning in easier ways. Self-direction without the pressures. Accessing some of the finest academic minds, but because you want to, not because it's a compulsory step in your education paperchase. And if its education for its own sake, then look at these as a starting point. Six of the best/most intriguing free online courses focusing on science, from some of the best boffins around. Dip in, get used to the idea, and follow the video trails they offer til you find what you're intrigued and interested in. So dive in, make yourself clever…"

"As I gear up to present student work at ETFO's ICT Conference in Toronto, I'd like to share some ideas: 1. Coding allows for students to learn across math strands instead of in isolation. 2. Coding is a place for students to fail safely. 3. Coding allows students to take risks and solve problems. 4. Computational thinking is a form of problem solving not accomplished with textbook work. 5. "Making" is creative. Creativity is fun. Here is a student application coded to support our Grade 8 probability strand. We extended our projects with Makey Makeys so users had a physical interaction."

"Join young inventors and artists from around the world on Google+ to make awesome projects, go on epic virtual "field trips," and meet the world's coolest makers. Maker Camp inspires kids ages 13-18* to embrace their inner maker, get their hands dirty, fix some things, break some things, and have a lot of fun doing it. Week 1: Makers in Motion Week 2: Art and Design Week 3: Fun and Games Week 4: Science and Technology Week 5: DIY Music Week 6: Make: Believe"

"Google Drive apps are third party add-ons that enable you to do more with your Drive. Chrome web store is teeming with all kinds of apps to use with your Drive, our Educational  Drive Apps section features some of the best educationally relevant apps for teachers and educators. The purpose of today's post is to share with you four basic Drive tips related to the integration and use of third party apps on your Drive. You are probably already familiar with some of them  (especially tip 1 and 3) but we are assuming that you are new to Drive and you want to be able to correctly install and mange your apps. Here is  what you have to keep in your mind:"

"Part 1 Then click here to see those first ten. Part 2 Now up to 20 resources Part 3 Check out these 10 to make 30 Part 4 A list that now supplies up to 40 STEM sites Part 5 An amazing 50 STEM sites. Part 6 Now at 60 sites and more to come Part 7 Click here as we get closer to 80 STEM sites"

"According to Code.org, 90 percent of U.S. schools are not teaching any computer science. Eyebrows were raised in 2013 as the U.K. passed a plan to educate every child how to code. In 2014, Barack Obama made history as the first U.S. president to program a computer. Yet critics claim that often only the more affluent schools offer computer science courses, thus denying minorities potential to learn the skills required by the 1.4 million new jobs that will be created during the next ten years. In my opinion, parents of every student in every school at every level should demand that all students be taught how to code. They don't need this skill because they'll all go into it as a career -- that isn't realistic -- but because it impacts every career in the 21st century world. Any country recognizing that will benefit in the long term. Here's how you can start. With the following resources, you can teach programming with every student and every age."

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!"

Key Trends: Time to Adoption 1 year - Collaborative Environments and Online Communication Tools 2 - 3 years - Mobiles, Cloud Computing 4 - 5years - Smart Objects, The Personal Web

Twine's features presented in bullets: 1. Social bookmarking service, 2. Central storage for documents, images, videos and other data (from your machine or from the web, 3. Media viewable inside Twine, bookmarked or uploaded. (videos, images, etc.), 4. Collaborative platform with wiki-like editing/built in text editor, 5. User-created groups with discussion boards, 6. Intelligent analysis of added content (more on this below), 7. A recommendation engine to help discover information & people relevant to you and your interests Do note that this list is not complete

Upload your own or a YouTube video, then 1. Capture up to 30 images 2. Add titles and descriptions 3. Add a title to your Vidinote 4. save as a pdf, and print. Interesting tool for teaching/learning by extracting knowledge from video, or for creating handouts from one's own video.

"Here are this week's most popular posts: 1. A Technology Integration Matrix with Video Examples 2. Guest Post - Sources of Funding and Free Stuff for Teachers 3. Zondle - Games to Support Learning 4. Computer Viruses and Threats Explained by Common Craft 5. Free eBook for Learning the Basics of xHTML 6. The Science of Hitting a Baseball or a Softball 7. Boom Writer - Collaborative Publishing for Kids"